


Time to Say Goodbye

by Armbar_Nation



Series: Seth Rollins/Ronda Rousey Series [8]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M, Light Bondage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-15 23:38:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9263927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Armbar_Nation/pseuds/Armbar_Nation
Summary: Ronda Rousey returns to WWE for a storyline with her husband, Seth Rollins. No one is prepared for it to be her last. (Warnings for light bondage and threats of graphic violence)





	1. Chapter 1

WWE Headquarters hadn't changed much since the last time Ronda Rousey had been there. Not that she could even remember when the last time she had been there was, or why. Today's reason for being in Stamford was a good one, she thought as she glanced into one of the top floor offices that she was walking past. When Hunter Helmsley, the Chairman of WWE, had found out that she was in New York on business, he had asked her to stop by the office for a meeting to discuss her impending return to action after taking three months off to film a movie.

The movie, the fourth in her fledgling Hollywood career, already had one major thing in its favour as far as wrestling fans were concerned. Although it wasn't affiliated with WWE in any way, it featured not one, but two of the company's most famous faces in the two starring roles. Ronda played the wife of a mob boss, who was played by Dwayne Johnson, known as The Rock to anyone who knew anything about wrestling. Filming with someone she already knew off-screen had made things easier and more enjoyable than usual, and they had both agreed that the movie had a very good chance of being a success. A story about two warring crime families, with an appropriate amount of action scenes and over-the-top special effects certainly had a large target audience.

Wrestling, however, was what Ronda enjoyed doing the most, not least because it gave her the chance to spend some more precious time with her husband, Seth Rollins. At times when she was away from WWE, they could go weeks without seeing each other outside of video calls. That was the worst part of stardom without a doubt, as far as she was concerned. Sometimes it made her want to give it all up; the wrestling, the movies and the charity work, and just live an ordinary life with her husband. Maybe they might even have a child. Her body had started to giving her signs that she couldn't go on wrestling forever.

Those were thoughts for the future, she told herself as she walked into Hunter's outer office and approached his receptionist. She had told the fans at the end of the recently-aired documentary about her that they hadn't seen the last of Ronda Rousey, and she had meant it.

"Hi. I'm here to see Hunter. I'm a few minutes early."

"Don't worry, Mr Helmsley is ready to see you," the receptionist said with a warm smile that was obviously well practiced. This was a different woman to last time, Ronda noticed as she stood and lead her to the door of the Chairman's office. Sometimes small things like that irritated Ronda, even though there was no real reason for them to. She was tempted to say that she could have found the way by herself. Of course, simple protocol was the real reason for the escort. It was the secretary's job to lead in a visitor and announce them.

"Mrs Rousey is here to see you, sir," she announced after politely knocking on the door, then leading Ronda in.

The name was correct, Ronda and Seth having agreed before their wedding that she wouldn't take his surname. The name Ronda Rousey was a brand almost as much as a name at this point, so it would not have made sense to change it. Besides, they had decided, it was the commitment to each other that the marriage represented that mattered, not what her name was.

"Good afternoon, Ronda," the boss said as he stood and walked around his desk to greet her.

The smile he gave her was both warm and genuine, and she returned it in kind. They had shared a close working relationship - which was referred to as 'the special relationship' by those on the roster who didn't like the fact - ever since Hunter had first signed Ronda to WWE as a referee a number of years ago, and then masterminded her promotion to wrestling on the main roster. Hunter's almost unwavering backing, added to an immediate connection with WWE's fans, had propelled Rousey to the top of the Divas division, and had seen her become one of the faces of the company in a relatively short space of time.

It was the kind of meteoric rise to prominence that had seldom been seen before, and probably wouldn't be seen again for a long time. In rare moments of reflection, Ronda would admit that she had been the right person at the right time. The fans had wanted to see change in women's wrestling, and she had embodied that change. From there, she had remained one of the people's favourites ever since, despite a previous attempt to turn her heel.

"Good to see you, Hunter. It's been a while."

They shared a brief hug, then Hunter gestured towards one of the comfortable office chairs in front of his desk. "Liza, bring some coffee, please," he said to his secretary, then returned to his own chair. Studying the woman in front of him made him want to smile again, but he hid it this time.

Ronda Rousey had certainly come a long way, particularly in the last couple of years, after she had settled down with Seth. There had been a time when her fame had gone to her head, making her almost impossible to manage on occasion, which had culminated in her departure from the company. Even when he had decided to re-sign her a year or two later, she had come back with a bad attitude. To try and help with keeping her grounded, Hunter had asked the late Ric Flair to take her on as a mentor, without actually telling her that was what he was doing. It had worked, with the help of the fact that she had rekindled her relationship with Seth, and from there she had really started to fulfill the potential that he had always seen in her, making a lot of money for both herself and WWE in the process.

Now she sat opposite him, wearing what was obviously a very expensive cream coloured dress - he was no good with designers - and a diamond encrusted wedding ring that must have cost Seth Rollins a fortune. He knew that she had been in New York earlier in the day, promoting The Rousey Foundation - the charity that WWE had helped her to set up. Always keen to back good causes, Hunter and Stephanie hadn't hesitated to help with Ronda's quest for better support for firefighters injured in the line of duty, and for the families of firefighters who lost their lives.

Yes, the first mega star that he had created in his role in management - that was how he thought of Ronda, not that he would say so to anyone - had definitely come a long way from the former Olympic athlete, down on her luck, who had applied to WWE's tryout program when they had been looking for a female referee.

"Are you okay, Hunter? You look like you're a thousand miles away," Ronda said.

"Sorry," Hunter said, smiling as he snapped out of his thoughts. "I was just thinking about how far we've come since I signed you as a referee. A lot has happened since then, huh?"

"I was thinking something similar on the way in here. But let's not look back, let's look forward. I'm feeling good, and I'm ready to come back. I'm excited to hear what you've got in mind for me."

She had decided long before arriving for the meeting that she wasn't going to mention the fact that she had felt some pain in her neck after the last few matches she had wrestled before her time off. Telling herself that it was probably a muscle or ligament strain of some kind, she had chosen to see if the pain went away during the filming, and so it had. At the back of her mind, she had wondered if the pain might have related in some way to her old neck injury.

Years before signing for WWE, she had fallen from a horse and landed right on the top of her head, breaking her neck. Recovering from that severe injury had been a long and often scary process, but she had managed it. WWE had insisted that she had to undergo extensive tests and scans with their medical personnel before they offered her a contract, and she had passed them all with flying colours. So, she had decided, the pain had to be caused by something else. And now it was gone, so why mention it?

"Great," Hunter said. "I think you're going to like what we've come up with. Firstly, we've decided that we want to do something with you and Seth together in a storyline. You've not done anything together since you've been married, and we think it will be something fresh."

Liza returned with the coffee, briefly interrupting the conversation. While she served, after asking Ronda's preference, it gave the returning star a chance to think about working with Seth on-screen. She loved the idea immediately. No one was more proud of their husband than she was. In her opinion, he thoroughly deserved the recent run that he'd been given as WWE Champion. Being a part of it would be fantastic.

"Where was I?" Hunter asked when Liza closed the door behind her. "Oh yeah, you and Seth will be together on-screen."

"That sounds great to me. But what's the actual idea? Who are we feuding with? As long as you're not about to say that it's some kind of storyline about us having marriage problems, I'm sure I'll be fine with it."

"You're not having marriage problems, are you?" Hunter asked, wondering why she chosen to say that.

"No, of course not," Ronda said, making it clear that she objected to the suggestion. "I'm just saying I wouldn't want to act that out on-screen. It would make me very uncomfortable. Anyway, forget I said anything. What's the idea we're going with?"

"Before I answer that directly, I want to remind you of the match you had with Elena D'Agostino."

Ronda had actually had several matches with the first ever Italian Diva in WWE, who was now the inaugural Women's Champion, but she knew which particular one he was referring to. Elena was a hard hitting, loud mouthed heel character who had a physique that wasn't too dissimilar from Ronda's. Those factors were the reason that Daga, as she was referred to by everyone backstage, had been booked as the first woman to stand toe to toe with Ronda and pose a serious threat to her. Their first rivalry had culminated in a no holds barred match which was undoubtedly the most vicious and bloody women's match in WWE history. Both women were very proud of that fact, and it was one of the main reasons that a friendship had developed between them off-screen.

"Trust me, I remember it," Ronda assured him with a smile.

"A lot of people do. The chance to see the two of you go at it again is one of the the things the fans request most, according to the people who do our social media analytics. We're going to give it to them, and we're going to go one step further this time."

Ronda raised her eyebrows. "Further? More of a war than last time?"

"Yep. It's going to be called an unsanctioned street fight. No rules other than having a ref there to count to three."

"I'm up for that, Hunter. It sounds great to me. What does it have to do with Seth though?"

"It's going to tie into his rivalry with Cesaro. That guy has some serious heat right now, which is great to play off of the support Seth is getting. We want to give Cesaro a run with the belt. This idea is about how we get him there. Bottom line, I'm having you and Seth put Cesaro over."

"What about Daga? Am I not putting her over? I beat her last time. But then, I've obviously not held the Women's Championship yet."

"The idea is to put the belt on you at Summerslam. Before that, the street fight will happen at Battleground, the next Smackdown pay per view."

"Alright," Ronda said, not realising herself how easily she had taken the news that she was going to be given a title run in her stride. "Cesaro and Elena aren't a thing though. In fact, most of the fans probably know she's with Bayley, so what's the deal there?"

"An alliance of convenience, rather than a relationship. As you know, Cesaro lost to Seth last Sunday, in the match that was billed as his last shot at the championship. He's not going to take being ruled out of the title picture lying down, and he's going to take matters into his own hands."

Ronda liked the sound of that, thinking that she might somehow by heading for a match with Cesaro. It wouldn't have been the first time she wrestled a man. "And that's where I come in. Am I going to wrestle him?"

"No," Hunter chuckled, which annoyed Ronda slightly. "You're program is with Daga, like I said. What's going to happen is, Cesaro talks Elena into abducting you, so that he can hold you to ransom for another title match with Seth. That will have his heat sky high for Battleground, and that's when we put the belt on him."

Surprised, Ronda considered that. Her character being abducted made her look weak, at the expense of Elena. In the past, she might have objected to the idea for that reason. Lately though, she had resolved herself to be more willing to put others over. The heat for both Daga and Cesaro would be off the charts, and her friend was definitely deserving of that kind of push. Plus, being abducted and held for ransom was definitely a good reason to beat the living shit out of someone in an unsanctioned street fight. Yes, Hunter was onto something good here, she decided.

"The way you talked about being held for ransom, you made it sound like it would go on for a while?"

"We would get it all filmed in a day, but it would span probably three weeks on Raw. Elena would have you tied up in a basement or something. We can use makeup to make it look like you've been kept there for days on end. I think it would be quite gritty television, honestly. Perfect for a TV-14 show. Daga would be taunting you, maybe even torturing you a bit. Anything we can do to have Seth beside himself, wanting his wife released and returned to him. Eventually, when Cesaro demands the title match, Seth wouldn't even hesitate to sign the contract. Obviously, we'll go through the finer details at the time. So, what do you think?"

"Let's do it," Ronda agreed without hesitation. "My character will be ready to beat Elena to death in the street fight after that ordeal. It's a good story with a good payoff for all four of us. I'm guessing you want me back this coming Tuesday?"

"Yes," Hunter nodded. "That's when the abduction will happen. I'll need you for a day later in the week to film the other scenes when we work out a location. I trust that won't be a problem?"

Ronda's contract technically only required her to work Smackdown shows and pay-per-views, but she would accommodate other requests, as long as they didn't interfere with her other commitments. "That's fine. No problem. I'm looking forward to it."

"Excellent." Hunter took a moment to drink some of his coffee, then the conversation turned to pleasantries about the movie Ronda had just finished shooting. The business part of the meeting was over, and both parties were pleased with the outcome.

 


	2. Chapter 2

"It's always good to be back," Ronda said while she and Seth waited for their driver to fetch their cases from the SUV's trunk. One of the perks of her contract was that WWE were responsible for all of her travel while she was on their time. It was something that she never would have thought of asking for. Unlike most of the roster, her hotel accommodation was also taken care of by the company. Having an agent to handle contract negotiations definitely was useful.

"I know what you mean," Seth replied, paying more attention to straightening his suit jacket. They took a lot of pride in being one of the best dressed couples on the roster. It seemed to come as a surprise to new people who joined the company that he was a relatively down to Earth guy, the expectation being that he and Ronda moved in similar social circles to Hunter and Stephanie Helmsley. Admittedly it was occasionally true, particularly so in recent times when they had been working to raise the profile of The Rousey Foundation. One thing Seth always kept in mind was that it was important not to become arrogant, no matter how much fame or money came your way. Thankfully, he had been able to reign Ronda in somewhat in that regard over the past couple of years.

Taking their cases from the driver, they wheeled them towards the arena's entrance. "Something different to get into tonight, that's for damn sure," Ronda said. "I never thought I'd agree to being kidnapped for a storyline. It's worth it for the unsanctioned street fight idea, though. That's going to be awesome."

"It will. And I'm pleased about the way my side of things is being booked, too."

"Agreed. Cesaro does deserve a run with the belt. Not as much as you do, of course," Ronda added.

"I've had it for a while, so I knew I was going to have to drop it soon," Seth said with a hint of resignation. "I'm just glad they came up with a good way to do it. I love rivalries that get really personal, if you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, it adds an extra edge to it," Ronda said. "Both of us have that going for us with this storyline."

Seth entered the building first, so that he could hold the door open for his wife.

"Thank you, honey." Ronda paused on her way past him for a quick peck on the lips.

"It's a shame you're not going to be here again the next couple of weeks," Seth said when they carried on walking.

"Yeah, I know. But Daga's supposed to have me locked away somewhere or whatever the deal is, so I obviously can't be on the show."

"I understand the reason, I'm just saying it's a shame. Speaking of Daga, there she is now."

Elena D'Agostino had just walked out of a locker room up ahead, followed by Bayley, her girlfriend. Both women were friends of Seth and Ronda. Glancing in their direction, Elena saw them approaching. "Ah, Ronda, welcome back," she said pleasantly. "I think we should get together later and talk about the new story, yes?"

The way Elena's strong Italian accent caused the R in her name to roll a little never failed to amuse Ronda. As good as her English was for someone who spoke it as a second language, it was a testament to Elena's in ring work that her accent and her sometimes awkward choice of wording hadn't held her back in WWE. Sometimes her promos did fall a little flat. That wouldn't be the case with Hunter's new idea, Ronda thought.

"Daga, Bayley," Ronda greeted them both. "Let me just go put my case in our locker room and we can talk now if you like?"

"Don't worry, I can take it," Seth said.

"No, I'll take it," Bayley offered. "Seth, do you want to grab something in catering? I'm hungry."

"Sure. That sounds good."

"Thanks, Bay," Ronda said, handing over the handle of her case.

"So, how are things with you?" Elena asked as they walked into her locker room.

Ronda closed the door behind her. "Really good. We're getting settled into the new house now. You and Bay will have to come out to see us soon."

Seth and Ronda had recently purchased a much more expensive house for themselves. Their previous house just hadn't felt the same after Maggie, Ronda's best friend and long-time housemate, had moved out to go and live with her boyfriend. Unsettled by the change, Ronda had found moving to be a must. Their new house in the hills of Hollywood was worth the jaw-dropping price for the view from the living room alone, in her opinion. After all, there was no point in making lots of money and not spending it. This was the first house she had bought with her husband, and it was where they intended to stay and settle. If they did some day have children, this was where they would be raised.

"We'd like that. It must be a very nice place up in Hollywood," Elena said. Her family, from Milan, were no strangers to money themselves. "What about the movie? How did that go?"

"Filming was a real blast this time. By far the most fun I've had on a movie. I'm sure this one is going to be a hit. Dwayne's such an awesome, funny guy to work with. I literally enjoyed every minute of it. I can't wait for you guys to get to see the finished product."

"I'm sure it will be great. Rock and Ronda, what a pairing. But part of me doesn't want you getting too happy over there. We need you kicking ass here, not making movies." Elena walked over to the corner of the room where several bottles of water stood on the counter. "Would you like some water?"

"No, thank you." Ronda sat down on one of the steel chairs and made herself as comfortable as she could. "And don't worry about me, I'll be here kicking asses for a long time to come, especially yours."

"You can try. You can try," Elena said, laughing. "I guess you will kick my ass in the street fight, yes?"

"If the last match we had is anything to go by, we'll kick each other's asses big time," Ronda said, smiling at both the memory and the prospect of some real violence. She loved it as much as the fans did, if not more. "I wouldn't have it any other way. There's only one girl on the roster who could look legit beating me up, and that's you."

Elena set a steel chair down with its back rest facing Ronda then sat down, using the back rest to lean on. "That's why you agreed to the kidnapping?" Friend or not, Elena knew how temperamental Ronda could be, especially when it came to creative.

"I guess so," Ronda admitted frankly, with a shrug. "I don't have a problem putting you over. You're the top heel, it's my job as the top face to make you look evil and badass by getting the better of me. That's the simplest dynamic there is in wrestling. I don't see much of a better way to do that than this idea. Have you spoken to Hunter about it? He gave me some basic info on it, then said we'd go over it in more detail tonight."

"I talk to him earlier, Elena said, using slightly the wrong word. "Here's what we've got to do tonight." She went on to outline the backstage scenes that they had to film for the show, with Ronda nodding her approval as she listened.

"Alright. I don't have a problem with that. Then we've got to film the other segments that they'll use for the next couple of weeks this Thursday."

"I've, uh, been thinking about that," Elena said, uncharacteristically hesitating.

"Go on," Ronda encouraged her. "What's on your mind?"

"Hunter said he wanted these scenes to be, uh, how do you say..."

"Gritty?" Ronda suggested as Elena faltered, remembering the word Hunter had used in his office.

The Italian clicked her fingers, happy with the prompt. "Yes, gritty. How gritty are you willing to be?"

"How gritty am  _I_  willing to be?" Ronda asked, raising her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I have you kidnapped, tied up, whatever. I hate you. You are my prisoner. If I am the evil heel character, I should be taunting you, even torturing you, no?"

"Torturing? Hunter did mention that, but it can't be anything too graphic, we're only rated 14. But yeah, you can make a bunch of threats, maybe threaten me with a knife or something. You could put some kicks into me if I'm tied up on the floor. I don't know exactly what the situation is going to be. Hey, here's a good one. You could rig up a noose somehow and say that if Seth doesn't agree to Cesaro's demands, you're going to hang my ass. I like that. That's pushing the boundaries."

"That is a good idea," Elena said enthusiastically, nodding. "I think we're going to have a bit of control over how we film it. That's what I was picking up from Hunter."

"What we should do is go find him and put our ideas to him," Ronda suggested, standing up. "He's going to have to give the final okay on it all, and he might want to have us do certain specific things as well."

"Good idea. We should go now."

Twenty minutes later, they walked back out of the Chairman's office with all of the plans for their part of the storyline finalised.

"What do you think of that?" Ronda asked Elena as they headed for catering to try and find their partners.

"I'm happy with it. But I'm not the one getting attacked and tied up. What did you think?"

"I say let's do it," Ronda grinned.

" _Sei davvero brava_."

Ronda barely knew a word of Italian, but she figured out that her friend was expressing gratitude for the fact that she was being put over in such a big way. That was only one of the two things that was motivating Ronda to make the storyline a success, though. This was a great chance to prove to WWE's fans that she was a good actress. Her performances in her first two movies hadn't exactly received glowing reviews, and as a perfectionist, that still stung her badly. It was for that reason that she intended to put one hundred per-cent effort into the upcoming scenes, rationalising that if the storyline went over really well then both she and Elena would benefit from it.


	3. Chapter 3

After Raw's opening match, Stephanie McMahon was shown standing in her office. She looked up from the text message that she was writing when Cesaro charged up to her.

"Stephanie, I'll make this quite simple," he began as he walked into the shot, lacking any kind of respect for WWE's CEO. "I want a rematch with Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship."

"First of all, Cesaro," Stephanie replied, glaring at him and putting some venom into the way she said his name, "You need to learn how to use a tone of voice appropriate to the person you're speaking to. And second, as far as I remember, you already had a match against Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship, and you lost." Cesaro attempted to cut in, but Stephanie went on. "Then you demanded a rematch, which I gave to you, and you lost that as well. Now you're storming in here demanding another rematch? What happens when Seth beats you again? You'll demand rematch number three, then four, then five?"

"I lost the first match by count out," Cesaro pointed out acidly. "And last time I just got unlucky. That's  _my_  title Rollins is walking around with. I want it back. Give me my rematch, Stephanie."

"You know you've got two ears and one mouth, Cesaro, right? If you used them in the correct ratio, you might have taken in the fact that I just told you to watch your tone. Since you didn't, my answer to your request is quite simple." Stephanie leaned in closer to Cesaro, nearly spitting her final word in his face. "No!"

"But..."

"I said no! No rematch. You had your chances against Rollins, and you lost. That's your problem, not mine. Now get out."

Literally shaking with rage, Cesaro glared at the boss for a moment before storming out of the office.

* * *

"Welcome back to Smackdown Live," Mauro Ranallo said after the commercial break. "We're going to show you what happened moments ago, after Cesaro walked out of Stephanie McMahon's office."

Cesaro was shown walking along a hallway, looking like the most pissed off person in the world. If he had any hair, he would have probably been pulling it out just to do something with his rage. The first bystander he encountered paid the price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"What are you looking at?" Cesaro yelled at the feeble looking male crew member. He didn't bother waiting for an answer before punching the guy in the face, knocking him down. Following up with several kicks still didn't seem to do much to calm him down, and he proceeded to start throwing equipment cases around, smashing one open against the wall. A steel chair was standing nearby. Cesaro picked it up and started pounding it onto everything he could, literally in a frenzy.

"Having a bad day?" a heavily accented female voice asked from out of the shot.

"Yes, Elena, I'm having a bad day," Cesaro replied through gritted teeth, glowering at her as she walked into the shot wearing jeans and a black leather jacket. "Seth Rollins is walking around with  _my_ WWE title, and McMahon won't give me a rematch for it. You know what she's like these days, pandering to the fans just because they cheer for her. It's pathetic. I just hate Rollins so much. Even looking at him makes me angry enough to punch someone in the face."

Elena's expression became sympathetic. "Trust me, I know. I've been there with his wife."

Cesaro cocked his head slightly to one side when he heard that. "His wife," he muttered, suddenly deep in thought.

"Yes, Ronda," Elena clarified, in case he was beyond stupid. "I hate her just as much as you hate Seth. Don't you remember she..."

"That's perfect," Cesaro said, completely ignoring what she was saying. "Come with me. I have an idea that can be good for both of us."

They walked out of the shot, leaving the hallway strewn with the carnage that Cesaro had created in his fit of rage.

"Whatever Cesaro's got on his mind, I don't think it's going to be good for Seth Rollins," JBL opined on commentary.

* * *

Later in the show, Cesaro was shown standing outside a door with a plaque proclaiming it to be the doctor's office. He took a moment to prepare himself, then flung the door open, charging into the room. The doctor jumped out of his skin, looking at him in surprise.

"Stephanie needs you," Cesaro said urgently. "It's AJ Styles, I think he's hurt. Go! Go!"

Not needing to be told twice, the doctor grabbed a bag of first aid supplies and raced from the room after Cesaro, not even noticing Elena lingering in the hallway with a devious smile on her face. When the coast was clear, she went into the office and started looking through the medical supplies.

* * *

After the next match, Elena was shown in another hallway, standing outside a door that was marked as being a janitor's closet. After checking that there was no one around to see what she was doing, she opened the door and sneaked inside.

* * *

Smackdown's main event was in progress, featuring Seth Rollins against the uninjured AJ Styles, with Cesaro at ringside. No one had seemingly been able to understand how the earlier miscommunication about AJ being attacked backstage had happened.

Ronda was shown watching the match on the monitor in her locker room, having changed back into her regular clothes after her comeback match earlier in the night. The locker room door flew open and Elena rushed in.

"Ronda, come, quickly. It's Nikki, someone's backed a car over her in the parking garage. She's hurt. I don't know how bad it is, but I know you're her friend. You should come." Ronda and Nikki's real life friendship had been acknowledged on screen before.

"Oh my god! Take me to where she is." Ronda got up and hurried from the room. "What the hell happened?" she asked as they jogged along the hallway.

"I don't know. I went out there, saw Nikki on the floor with doctors and things, so I decided to come get you. I heard someone say something about being backed over by a car."

It took them thirty seconds to reach the parking garage. As they approached it, Elena slowed her pace slightly to hang back behind her soon-to-be victim, pulling a white rag out of her jacket pocket.

Ronda jogged into the parking garage, coming to stop as she looked around. There was no team of paramedics or doctors out there. There was no Nikki on the floor. There had been no accident. The couple of seconds it took her to process that information was all it took for Elena to strike. When the rag was clamped down hard over her nose and mouth, Ronda made sure to sell the fact that it was supposed to be soaked in chloroform for the cameras.

"Hmmppphh!" she cried out in surprise, the sound muffled by the cloth, and tried to struggle against her attacker. It was no use, though because Elena had already wrapped her other arm around her waist, pinning one of her arms in the process. Ronda managed to get her free hand up to try and pull Elena's hand away from her mouth, but the fast-acting drug was already weakening her. Consciousness was already starting to slip away.

"Nnnmm," Ronda moaned again, more weakly this time.

"Ssshhh," Elena told her, with a nasty little smile on her face. "Don't fight it, Ronda. Go to sleep."

Ronda's eyes rolled back as she faded into unconsciousness, going limp against Elena, who slowly lowered her down to the floor, keeping the rag in place over her mouth and nose the whole time to make sure she was completely out.

"There we are," Elena said, satisfied when she crouched over her incapacitated victim. "We're going to go for a little ride in the car. When we get to where I'm taking you, we're going to have lots of fun. When I say we, obviously I mean me. I don't think you'll enjoy it much. You had lots of fun last time we fought, yes? Now it's my turn. Now, let's make sure you travel safe, yes? Nice and secure."

She pulled a roll of silver duct tape out of her other jacket pocket, then turned Ronda over so that she was lying on her front. Within moments, her wrists were taped tightly together behind her back and her ankles were also bound together.

"Better not forget that big mouth of yours, Ronda, huh?" Tightly wrapping the tape twice around Ronda's head took care of that potential problem.

Next out of the coat pocket was a set of car keys. Elena's car was parked nearby. She walked over to it and popped the trunk, then went back to Ronda. "You look much better like that, did you know that?" she asked her unconscious victim. Not bothering to be gentle, she scooped Ronda up and hauled her over to the car, then tossed her into the trunk like a bag of groceries. After slamming the lid closed, she got behind the wheel, backed the car out of its space, then burned rubber as she headed for the exit. The camera stayed on her car until she turned into the street.

"My god," Ranallo said, clearly shocked. "Elena just abducted Ronda Rousey. That's Seth Rollins' wife, and he doesn't even know what's happened."

Smackdown's main event was still going on. The kidnapping hadn't been shown on the big screen, in order to make sure that Seth's character couldn't possibly have seen what was happening. Sacrificing showing it to the live audience was worth it for the greater good of the storyline.

"This had to be Cesaro's idea," Otunga said, making his disgust obvious. "That's why he's out here, to make sure Seth didn't somehow go backstage in time to save his wife. What a vile human being Cesaro is to mastermind the kidnapping of another man's wife."

"Woah, woah, woah!" JBL said. "You have no proof of anything you just said. All we know for sure is Elena D'Agostino just abducted Ronda Rousey. We don't know why, and we don't know where she's taking her."

"And worst of all, we don't know what Elena plans to do with her," Ranallo said.

Because the car had to be filmed leaving the parking garage, Ronda had to stay tied up in the trunk while Elena made a trip around the block to head back to the arena. All she could think about was that she was glad the abduction wasn't for real. Much like with everything she did when she was in character, Elena hadn't held back when she had gone to work with the duct tape. Even breathing through her nose was difficult with the gag wrapped so tightly around her mouth, which also had the nasty side effect of filling her mouth with the unpleasant taste of adhesive. The circulation to her hands was partially being cut off by her bonds, and her shoulders hurt from her arms being wrenched behind her back. Escaping this predicament for real would have been next to impossible. Groaning in pain as she tried to move to a slightly more comfortable position made her realise that she would have stood little chance of crying out for help, either.

Filming the rest of the scenes later in the week promised to be fun, she thought sarcastically, wondering why exactly she had agreed to the idea in the first place. The amount of things she could have been doing to earn money, and here she was in the trunk of a car, wrapped up in duct tape. Pride wasn't going to allow her to tell Elena to go easier on her for the rest of the scenes, though. That just wasn't how she did things. They had both taken a serious ass kicking from each other in their last match, without a word of complaint from either of them. Ronda would have felt like she was showing weakness if she changed that mentality now. At least the scenes would look more realistic this way, she reasoned. Hopefully the more attentive people watching would pick up on that and give her some credit for not holding back.

After what felt like a very long time to Ronda, but was really only a few minutes, Elena drove the car back into the parking garage and parked back in her original spot. She had tried to hurry the trip around the block as much as she could, wanting to set her friend free. "Are you okay?" she asked as she opened the trunk. Ronda grunted and nodded that she was, and Elena helped her to sit up on the back of the car.

"Let me get this off you." Elena sat down beside her and stroked Ronda's now messy hair away from her face. She then found the end of the tape that was wrapped around her mouth and peeled it off as carefully as she could. Even that made Ronda groan in pain when some of the hairs on the back of her neck were pulled out.

Something about the whole situation made Ronda think that it seemed almost intimate in a strange way, which was a surprise to her. It was hard to figure out exactly why she thought that. Maybe it was the unaccustomed sense of vulnerability that she's felt by being bound and gagged, and now the relief at being freed. Or maybe it was something to do with having such close contact with an undeniably beautiful woman, who also happened to be gay. There had been real tenderness in the way Elena had brushed the hair away from her face, and in the way she was trying to be so gentle with removing the tape. Whatever the reasons for it, feeling like that had given Ronda an idea.

Slowly, Elena pulled the last of the tape off her mouth, which stubbornly tried to stay attached to her lips. Whatever brand of tape it was that the crew had given her to use, it was heavy duty stuff. "Sorry," she grimaced. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I'm okay," Ronda said, wiping her lips, which were still sticky from the adhesive.

"I didn't want it to look lame when I tied you up. I am a, uh, how do you say..."

"Perfectionist," Ronda helped out. "I know you are, and I am too. Free my hands, please." Ronda turned around, making it easier for Elena to work on her bonds.

"Of course." Elena started working on the tape. "Could you breathe okay with that on your mouth? If not, we'll have to do something else for the next scenes."

"I was okay," Ronda assured her again. "Being tied up and gagged is never going to be comfortable. You know me, I'm as tough as they come."

"That is true," Elena chuckled.

Ronda gasped with relief when her wrists were freed, moving her shoulders to relieve the pain. "Daga?"

"Yes, I'm going to untie your ankles."

"I wasn't going to say that. I was thinking about what we're going to film Thursday. You gave me an idea when you tied me up a few minutes ago. You said something about me looking better like that. It's got me thinking that maybe we could do something with your character talking about me being hot, saying Seth is a lucky guy, that kind of thing. It might add another edge to it."

Elena considered that for a couple of seconds. "Yes, I like that. Even if my character is only doing it to torment you and mess with your head, I think we could do it. Maybe I kiss you? You'll have your mouth taped, so I could kiss, uh, where your lips would be underneath?"

"What did I walk into here?" The voice belonged to Seth, who had come straight to the parking garage after the show had ended.

"I'm talking about kissing your wife," Elena said coyly.

"Hey now! I'll go get my camera," Seth said, feigning excitement as he took a few steps back towards the arena entrance.

"You wish, asshole," Ronda giggled as she worked on freeing her ankles. "Besides, Bayley would kill Daga."

"Is true," Elena agreed with a smile, slightly messing up her English.

"What we were saying is, Daga's character could talk about finding me attractive, saying you're a lucky guy, that kind of thing. Maybe she could even kiss me. It would all be about messing with my head of course, as we obviously hate each other."

"I think that's a good idea," Seth said thoughtfully. "I does fit Daga's character to do something crazy like that, but you'd better talk to Hunter again. You're going to need his okay on something like that."

Ronda laughed as she took Seth's hand and he pulled her up to her feet. She kissed him quickly on the lips, then turned back to her friend. "This is why I get in shit all the time and he doesn't."

"No, I know how to keep my mouth shut," Seth clarified. "I think Daga's onto something with this duct tape idea. Have you got any left?"

"Sure," Elena giggled. She took the roll out of her pocket again and tried to toss it to Seth, but Ronda made the interception and caught it.

"No more duct tape."

"Spoilsport," Seth said, pretending to sulk about it.

All three of them laughed as they walked back into the arena.


	4. Chapter 4

Looking out of the window of the SUV that had picked her up from the airport, Ronda found herself wondering where the hell she was being taken. The city was long since behind them, and all she could see now was rural countryside. It was definitely a good thing that WWE were responsible for her travel arrangements, she thought, glad that she didn't have to navigate her way around these roads in the ass end of nowhere. The black SUV with tinted windows that she was traveling in definitely didn't fit in with the beaten up pickup trucks and farm vehicles that mad up the bulk of the traffic traveling in the opposite direction.

"Are we nearly there yet?" she asked the driver from the back seat, not realising how much she sounded like a little kid on her way to a vacation.

"A couple more minutes, ma'am," the driver replied politely, glancing at the satnav display.

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"The address I have is for a warehouse, ma'am."

That made sense, Ronda admitted to herself. If her kidnapping at the hands of Elena had been real, a deserted warehouse in the middle of nowhere would have been a good location for her captor to keep her locked away.

Shortly, the SUV pulled onto a gravel parking area and stopped. Not standing on ceremony, Ronda didn't bother waiting for the driver to open the door. That kind of officiousness irritated her. Climbing out of the vehicle, she saw that the driver's use of the word warehouse had conjured up the wrong kind of image in her head. She had pictured some kind of huge place that would have been full of shipping containers when it was in use, but the reality was closer to the opposite end of the scale. The building she saw in front of her looked more like a former auto repair shop, or maybe somewhere that a farmer had used to park his tractors. There was a single steel door to get into the place, with a much larger roller shutter door that could be opened to get vehicles in or out. Exactly how WWE had managed to come up with this up as a filming location, she couldn't begin to imagine.

Three WWE production crew members, two men and a woman, had been standing nearby, drinking coffee while they chatted with Elena D'Agostino, who was also working on a coffee of her own. Elena had started walking over when she saw the SUV arrive. "Hey, Ronda," the Italian said with a pleasant smile. "How are you?"

"Daga. I'm good, you?"

"Great. Ready to terrorise you some more," she added with a mischievous grin. "There's coffee in the van over there if you want some."

A white van was parked on the other side of the small graveled area, with it's side door slid open. Elena's hire car was parked next to it. It was the same model and colour as the one she'd had at Raw the week before, Ronda realised. Continuity had been thought about at least. She and Elena had both remembered to dress in the same clothes they had been wearing the week before when she had been abducted. The first scene they filmed was supposed to have happened the previous Monday night, or more accurately the following morning, she realised, as it was obviously now light outside. Silly, needless errors which broke kayfabe like an incorrect change of clothes or night becoming day without explanation always triggered Ronda. Being a perfectionist wasn't easy at times.

"Have you brought other clothes to change into?" she asked Elena, who had walked over to the van with her.

"I brought another jacket. Only my jacket and jeans will be seen, so that's enough to make it look like some time has gone by between the scenes."

"And how are we going to deal with the fact that it's light outside? Is it supposed to be Tuesday morning when we arrive here?"

"Yes. I will make sure to say something about driving all through the night to make that clear."

"Good. And for the later scenes, they're going to use makeup on me to make it look like I've been shut up in this place for a week or whatever." Ronda took one of the cheap plastic cups that was on offer and poured some coffee into it from a thermos flask. It was hardly going to be top quality coffee, but it would have to do. There was also a coolbox in there, which she presumed contained cans of soda or bottles of water for later. The sun was already beating down and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. The place would soon become a real heat trap, meaning that coffee wouldn't be the order of the day later.

"Yes." Elena paused while Ronda's driver fired up the SUV's powerful engine. One of the crew members had asked him to go park up around the back of the warehouse so that his vehicle was out of the way when they started filming. Its wheels kicked up dust as it pulled away, but thankfully the wind blew it in the opposite direction. "I was thinking about how you should be tied up, Ronda. Tape might work for a while in the trunk, but to keep you here for a week? That would take something stronger."

"Just how much have you been thinking about tying me up?" Ronda asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"I thought about it a lot," Elena said, missing the humour in the question. Another slight language barrier related problem, Ronda realised. "We are both perfectionists, yes? Are we going to do it right or wrong?"

"We're going to do it right, of course. Tell me what you have in mind," Ronda encouraged her friend.

Elena turned and reached into the van, rummaging around through the cameras and other equipment. "I sent Hunter a message and had them bring some things I wanted." She emerged a moment later holding three lengths of rope, two relatively short lengths and a much longer one, and a pair of handcuffs.

"Christ," Ronda said, unable not to smile. She had known going in that Elena wouldn't hold back on her with this storyline - she never held back on anything while she was in character, whether it was in the ring or out.

Elena held up some of the longer length of rope. "This is one is to make the, uh, I forget the word."

"The noose idea I suggested? To threaten to hang me if Seth doesn't agree to Cesaro's demands?"

"Yes," Elena replied, looking slightly downcast for a moment. "My English is bad."

"No it's not," Ronda assured her. "For a second language, in a country that you've lived in for a couple of years or whatever, I think you're doing great. Sure, you can improve, and you will, but you don't need get down about it."

"I should have tried harder to learn English in school."

One of the two male crew members walked over towards them, intruding on the rather strange moment as Ronda wondered just how insecure Elena really was about her spoken English. It was certainly the first time she had heard her friend lack confidence. Something to bring up again in private, she decided.

"Morning, Ronda," the crew member said, polite and professional. Ronda figured that she should probably have known the guy's name. She had seen him around backstage plenty of times.

"Morning. Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, as soon as you've had your coffee. We've got an overview of the scenes we need to get done. First of all, we need you in the trunk of the car, the way you were Monday night."

Ronda downed the rest of her hot drink in one hit, consciously telling herself not to give a sarcastic response. These people were just here to do a job, and besides, she had agreed to this whole idea when Hunter had pitched it to her. "Alright, I'm ready when you are. Can you do something with this?" She handed her empty plastic cup to him like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

"You've not changed your mind about me kissing you?" Elena asked as she threw the ropes and handcuffs back into the van. They were not needed yet.

"No. I mean, it's not like you're going to have your tongue in my mouth or anything. It's just a way for your character to torment mine, and that's the whole point of this thing. Well, that and you getting your ass kicked at the end of it, obviously."

"Obviously. And I really do need an ass kicking for this. We need to work on spots for that match."

"We will, closer to the time," Ronda said, noticing that the two male crew members were now fiddling around with their cameras.

The female member of the team, who definitely didn't look familiar to Ronda, walked over to them. Maybe she usually worked on NXT or something? She was younger than the two men, and much shorter too. The way she kept her dark hair made Ronda think that she looked a bit like a pixie, not that it was a negative thing - the look actually suited her. She had a nervous smile on her face as she approached.

"Hi, Ronda, it's great to meet you. My name's Alice. I'm going to be directing today." She offered her hand.

"Alice. I haven't seen you around before," Ronda said, accepting the handshake.

"I usually work on NXT, but today Hunter assigned me to this. It's a big deal for me, so I'm hoping it goes well."

Ronda grinned. "Translated, you mean you've heard I can be difficult to work with and you don't want me to fuck you around on your big day."

Alice looked taken aback for a moment, then risked a smile of her own. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

Ronda laughed heartily at that. She liked the woman already. In her opinion, the world needed more people with that kind of attitude. "Alice, let me tell you something. The people who find me hard to work with are the people I don't have respect for, and the people who fuck me around and get on my nerves. So how about we make a deal: You don't fuck me around, I won't fuck you around."

"Sounds good," Alice said. After glancing over at the two men who working for her for the day, she cleared her throat. "Looks like they're almost set. The first thing we need to film is Elena arriving here with you still locked in the trunk." She went on to describe exactly what was to happen in the scene.

Elena had walked over to the van and then returned to stand beside Ronda while they had been talking. Holding up a industrial sized roll of silver duct tape, she gave Ronda one of her character's nasty little smiles. "Duct tape time."

"Can't wait," Ronda said dryly as she lead the way over to Elena's car. "Alright, open the trunk."

After unlocking the car with the button on the key fob, Elena popped the trunk and Ronda sat down on the edge of it. The Italian walked around to the back of the car and crouched down in front of her on-screen victim.

"Ankles first, Ronda. It feels strange to do this to my friend."

"So if it was one of the others you would be okay with it?"

Elena looked up at her and gave a knowing smile. "One or two I could tie up and set fire to the car."

"That's why I like you, Daga. You call things the way they are. I could think of a person or two I wouldn't mind getting rid of, too. Maybe we should go on a killing spree at some point?"

"Guys, I'm sorry, but can we please get started?" Alice asked, walking over to them. "WWE only rented this place for one day. I don't want to run out of time if we have to do re-takes and things."

"Sorry," Elena said, then got to work taping Ronda's ankles together. While she was doing that, one of the crew members fired up the van in order to move it out of sight behind the building.

"Rented it for a day?" Ronda asked. "Rented from who? Look at it, the place is a shit hole."

Elena glanced up at Alice. "Want me to do her mouth next? We'll be here all day, especially if she starts complaining."

Ronda gave her a withering look. "You should do my wrists first if you're going to talk like that, or we'll be spending the day in the ER instead."

"Your wish is my command." Ankles secured, Elena got back up. "Turn around and I'll do your wrists."

"Okay." Ronda turned to sit sideways on the back of the car so that Elena could easily work on her wrists. Within moments, her shoulders were wrenched back into the uncomfortable position and her wrists were secured tightly together, thankfully not quite tight enough to restrict circulation this time, not that pride would have allowed her to complain about it if that had happened.

"Now your mouth." Elena pulled more tape from the roll and stuck it to Ronda's cheek, then wrapped it twice around her head.

Ronda couldn't help a slight moan of discomfort as she tested the tightness of it for the first time, feeling her cheeks being constricted and her eyes forced open slightly wider than usual. Again, she reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to look comfortable in the scenes that they were filming.

After stuffing the roll of tape in her jacket pocket, Elena got up off the back of the car. "Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

"Mmm Hmm," Ronda acknowledged, nodding slightly.

"Good. Lie down and we'll get going."

Awkwardly, Ronda got herself into the most comfortable position she could, lying on her side. Elena closed the lid, and everything went dark. A real kidnap victim would be scared to death in these circumstances, she thought, shuddering at the thought. The engine started up and she felt Elena backing out of her parking spot. It was time to begin.


	5. Chapter 5

Elena's car pulled off the rural road and onto the gravel parking area outside of a very deserted-looking warehouse. It was obvious from the background scenery that the place was in the middle of nowhere. She climbed out of the car, walked over to the entrance, unlocked the door and disappeared inside, slamming the door closed behind her. A moment later, the large roller shutter door began to slide upwards, squeaking loudly as it opened.

When the gap between the shutter door and the floor was big enough, Elena ducked underneath it and walked back over to the car, got in and drove into the building. Once inside, she killed the engine, got back out of the car and hit a button on the wall. With more loud squeaking, the door began to descend again.

Next, Elena opened one of the car's rear doors and leaned inside, fetching something from on the back seat. Emerging with a white cloth and a brown glass medicine bottle, she pressed a button on the inside of the driver's door to pop the trunk. As she was made her way to the back of the car, she poured some of the contents from the bottle onto the cloth. Lifting the trunk's lid, she treated her captive to a cruel smile. "Hello, Ronda. I hope you enjoyed the ride?"

"Mmmmmppphhh!" Ronda roared into her gag, straining her wrists against their bonds. The angry glare on her face just might have been enough to kill Elena by itself.

"You see, there's the problem, that struggling and shouting you're doing. It doesn't work for me. Go back to sleep." Elena leaned into the trunk, burying Ronda's nose in the chloroform-soaked cloth.

Ronda tried to cry out another protest, but she weakened quickly, unable not to breathe in the powerful drug.

"Sshhh," Elena encouraged her. "Go back to sleep, it's time to start the party."

After Ronda had passed out again, Elena kept the cloth in place for another few seconds to make sure it had fully taken effect. Then the real work began. Grunting with the effort, she hoisted her victim out of the trunk and slung her over her shoulder.

"You know," she began, carrying Ronda towards the back of the large, empty room. "If Cesaro asked me to do this to anyone else, I probably wouldn't have wanted to put in the effort. But as it was you, Ronda, it was worth it. I owe you after our last match, and Elena D'Agostino never forgets when she owes someone. You're going to wish you never met me by the time you get out of here."

She lowered Ronda down to the concrete floor, resting her back against a sturdy metal support beam that ran from floor to ceiling.

"That is, if you ever get out of here."

* * *

"Alright, good job," Alice said. "That's the first scene done. That one will go out on the website at some point over the weekend, ready for Seth to go crazy about it at the start of Smackdown. The next one will be used on the show itself, and the third and final one will go out on the website again the following Monday, leading into the segment on Smackdown with Seth signing the contract for his title match with Cesaro."

"Are you okay, Ronda?" Elena asked, crouching down next to her friend. Pulling a box cutter out of her coat pocket, she cut away the bonds from her ankles and then her wrists. The rope and handcuffs were going to come into play for the next scene.

"Mmm Hmm." Ronda rubbed at her wrists, trying to get the circulation going again properly.

"I'll leave it on your mouth. There's no point taking it off and putting it back on again in two minutes."

Ronda nodded her agreement, then Elena turned to Alice. "On to the next scene? We shouldn't waste time with her like this."

"Next time it's going to be you," Ronda tried to say as a joke, but the words were made totally unintelligable by the tape. Her lips were sealed so tightly that they wouldn't move at all.

"I really can't understand you," Elena admitted with a sheepish look on her face. "Remind me not to tell your husband about this."

Ronda growled a warning at her, along with a disapproving scowl.

"Okay, the next scene," Alice said, getting back on track. "We need to start with Ronda tied up to that post right there. That was your idea, Elena."

"Daga," Elena corrected her. "No one uses my name unless it's on-screen."

"Sorry. Anyway, you know what you have to say for this scene, right?"

"Yes. I make some of it up as I go, but I know the key things."

"Let's run through those key things then," Alice said, leaving no room for argument.

Rushing clearly was not part of the producer's game plan. Fair one, Ronda thought. Alice was the one who might have her future career riding on this thing. Listening to the conversation, she noted Elena's slightly awkward English again a couple of times. It now seemed to stand out more, after her earlier near-admission that she was self-conscious about it. As the chatter went on, she found herself wishing that they would hurry up and get on with the filming. Although Elena had said she didn't want to waste time, she wasn't doing a bad job of it. She had been left unbound, and could therefore have taken her gag off while she waited for them to finish the discussion, but as Elena had already pointed out, that would just mean that it would have to be replaced again before they could film the next scene. Continuity would also be ruined, plus there was the fact that taking the tape off was the most uncomfortable part of all, so she decided it was best to live with it. Another coffee would definitely be good when they took a break, to wash the horrible taste of adhesive out of her mouth.

"Everything clear?" Alice eventually asked Elena.

"Yes, got it."

One of the male crew members, who were primarily working as cameramen, walked over with the two smaller lengths of rope and the handcuffs. "Here you go. You'll need these."

"Thank you." Elena took them, then crouched down in front of Ronda. "Time to tie you up."

Ronda theatrically rolled her eyes as Elena used one of the ropes to bind her ankles, wrapping it around several times before tying a secure knot. Looking realistic still wasn't going to be a problem.

"Hands behind the pole, please."

Complying, Ronda felt the handcuffs being fastened on her wrists. Keeping her character hostage in the warehouse was as simple as that. Until the handcuffs were unlocked, she was now secured to the pole. Daga really had thought this through, and she still was not done.

"One more thing to do. I need to put this rope around you."

"Hmmmh?" Ronda demanded.

"My character doesn't just want to keep you here, she wants you to be uncomfortable, she wants you to suffer, she wants to mess with your mind, yes? That's why I have to kiss you. Realistic, we said."

Ronda nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Good." Elena wrapped the rope around Ronda's lower chest a couple of times, then tied the knot behind the pole.

Testing her bonds, Ronda found that it was difficult to move at all. 'Hunter had better appreciate this when he sees it,' she thought.

"Ready?" Alice asked.

"Yes." Elena stood, then walked back towards the front of the warehouse.

"Okay. Next scene, everyone. Here we go."

* * *

A pair of handcuffed wrists were shown, secured to a metal pole. The black nail polish on the finger nails gave the first clue as to who they belonged to. As the shot panned out, it was revealed that the still unconscious Ronda was sitting on the concrete floor of the dimly lit building, tied to the pole as well as essentially being handcuffed to it. Her legs were stretched out on front of her, ankles elaborately bound with rope. She was going nowhere. Crying out for help wasn't going to be an option either, with the tape still wrapped around her mouth.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open as the effects of the chloroform began to wear off. It took her a few seconds to regain awareness of where she was, and the situation she was in. Looking at her bound ankles, her eyes widened slightly. Next, she tried to move her hands from behind her back, only to hear the clink of the handcuff chain against the pole. Growling in frustration into the tape, she tried to wriggle against the rope that was wrapped around her chest. This also proved to be a waste of energy.

With a loud squeak of hinges, and then a crash that echoed around the large empty room, someone entered the warehouse and slammed the door behind them. Footsteps echoed off the concrete floor as Ronda's abductor walked towards her. She tried to turn around to look in that direction, but the rope around her chest prevented her from doing so.

"Ah, you're awake," a familiar voice said, a sneer obvious in the tone. Elena walked around her captive and crouched down in front of her. "I think it's time we had a talk, yes? I talk, you listen."

"Gmt thmf fhnt hff mmm!" Ronda yelled, wrenching at the handcuffs and straining her head upwards in an attempt to loosen the tape.

"Shut up and sit still!" Elena barked back at her. "You're only hurting yourself and pissing me off, and you really don't want to be doing either of those things."

Ronda did as she had been told, but none of the venom left the glare that she fixed on the Italian.

"And don't look at me like that, either. You should want me to be in a good mood. Now, let's talk."

Elena sat down beside Ronda and put an arm around her shoulders, as she might have done with an old friend. Ronda tried to pull away from her, but it wasn't an option. "First, let me tell you why you're here and what's going to happen, yes?" She looked at her captive as if she expected some kind of positive response. Ronda didn't even acknowledge her, choosing to look straight ahead, as if that show of resistance counted for something.

"Honestly, this was Cesaro's idea," Elena pressed on regardless. "Really, you can blame Stephanie McMahon for putting you in this position. If she had given Cesaro the rematch he wanted for your stupid husband's title, none of this would have happened. Stephanie, how do you say... backed Cesaro into a corner. And this is the way he decided to get out of it. What's going to happen, Ronda, is Cesaro's going to make demands for your release. When, or if, Seth agrees to demands, Cesaro will call me and ask me to let you go. By thenit won't really matter if I do let you go or not, so you'll have to hope I feel in a good mood at the time."

Ronda tried to protest again, which proved to be just as effective as before.

"Shut up," Elena told her, as if she was getting bored with repeating herself. Keeping her arm around Ronda's shoulders, she used her free hand to press the tape down over her mouth, making sure it stayed tightly sealed. "It should be obvious that I put that there to keep you quiet. How about a bit of cooperation, huh?"

Refusing to be submissive, Ronda strained her head upwards against, fighting against the tape and the hand that was pressing it down. "Scrmm ymmmph!"

"Now that's just not very nice," Elena said, shaking her head sadly after removing the hand from her victim's mouth, happy that the gag was nice and secure. "Did you see me reacting like that after our last match, when you beat me? No. I just carried on with my business. But guess what I didn't do? I didn't forget a thing. We gave each other a real ass kicking that night, and you came out on top. That means I owe you. I owe you an ass kicking that I come out on top of. And right now, that doesn't look like it would be hard. What do you say, Ronda? Shall I give you that ass kicking right now? That would be fun, no?"

The intention was clearly to get Ronda to plead for mercy, but she had no intention of giving her sworn enemy that kind of satisfaction, no matter what her predicament was. Continuing to look straight ahead, she didn't even try to say anything.

"At least you're quiet now," Elena shrugged. "All that shouting is so annoying. I wouldn't want to spend the next two weeks listening to that all the time."

At the cleverly inserted mention of two weeks, Ronda's head snapped round to look at Elena, eyes wide. "Tmm Wmmphs?"

Elena touched a finger to the tape, over where Ronda's lips would have been if they were visible. "Shhh. Yes, two weeks. It will be next Tuesday night before your husband finds out what's happened to you, and Cesaro tells him that demands will be made. Then we'll have to wait for the following week for Seth to actually sign something to say he agrees to what's required. Then, maybe, I can let you go."

Being held captive like this for two weeks wasn't a prospect that Ronda wanted to face, and she showed weakness for the first time. As she tried to fight against the handcuffs once more, she moaned into the tape, this time with more than a hint of desperation. Some of the fire had also gone from her eyes, replacing an almost pleading look.

"Ah, that's better," Elena said happily, smiling at her captive, still with her arm around her shoulders. "That's more like what I wanted to see. You know, you're so much better looking without that dumb frown on your face. I might hate your guts, but I can see what Seth sees in you. You're a sexy lady, Ronda."

"Mmmmph?" Ronda had pulled away as much as she could, looking at Elena as if she was mentally disturbed, which could easily be the case.

"Don't tell me a woman has never said that to you before? If things were different, a lot different, I might feel jealous of Seth."

Ronda tried to pull away even further, but her bonds and Elena's arm prevented that from happening.

"Have you ever been kissed by a woman, Ronda?"

"Nm," Ronda said, making it crystal clear that she didn't want to be, either.

"That's a pity. Just think, if this whole thing doesn't go the right way for you, if Seth doesn't do exactly what Cesaro tells him, you might never get the chance."

"Gmmd."

Elena ignored that, seeming to consider the point that she herself had made. Shaking her head slightly, she sighed. "Maybe I'm, how do you say... going soft? That's right, isn't it? I'm going to give you that chance myself."

"Nmmm!" Ronda growled, leaning as far away from her captor as she could, looking repulsed by what she was being threatened with.

Elena removed the arm from around her shoulders and shifted around so that she was sitting on top of Ronda's outstretched legs, face to face with her. "Don't be like that," she said as Ronda turned her head to the side, her only available act of defiance. "Look at me."

Ronda ignored the command, so Elena grabbed hold of her jaw and forcefully turned her head, holding it in place so that they were looking eye to eye. With her other hand, she tenderly brushed some stray strands of hair out of Ronda's face. "Beautiful girl."

Without waiting for a response, she leaned forwards and softly kissed the tape over Ronda's mouth, still holding her head in place with her hand. Despite her captive's loud moan of protest, Elena kissed her again, and then a third time, before faking a moan of her own, this one allegedly born from pleasure.

"It's a shame I have to keep you taped up like that. We could have lots more fun," Elena taunted when she had finishing kissing.

Ronda roared some form of abuse into her gag and started struggling with her bonds as much as she could, desperate to get free and tear the Italian apart.

"Fine, be that way," Elena said indifferently as she stood up. "It's not me who has to spend two weeks locked in here. Right now, I think you should go back to sleep." With that, she delivered a vicious knee to the side of Ronda's head, knocking her out cold.

"Stupid, pathetic bitch," Elena snarled. "As if I would ever really be interested in someone like you. I hope Cesaro doesn't get what he wants, then I  _can_  do something with you that I'll enjoy." To finish, she spat on the unconscious woman, then walked back in the direction of the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Scene number two had required three takes before Alice announced that she was happy with it. One had been cut because Elena had stumbled over her English particularly badly at one point, and the second had been cut for no reason at all, as far as Ronda had been able to make out. Finally, though, it was done, and Elena had just unlocked the handcuffs. While the Italian moved around to start untying her ankles, Ronda began the careful process of unwrapping the tape from around her head, taking it slowly to avoid pulling out any more hairs than was absolutely necessary.

"That time was perfect, ladies," the producer told them.

"Sorry I screwed the first one up," Elena mumbled.

With a real sense of relief, Ronda removed the last of the tape from her lips, being careful not to pull too hard. "Fuck," she moaned as soon as she was able. "That shit's too sticky, and it tastes so bad. Someone get me a drink."

"I think we could all use a coffee," Alice said, looking at one of the men who was working for her. "Can you run out to the van?"

"Sure." He headed for the door.

"Why did you cut the second time?" Ronda asked irritably. She certainly hadn't planned on being tied up for the amount of time that three takes had required.

"Honestly? You weren't convincing me with your facial expressions. The last time was much better."

"Be honest, why don't you?" Ronda muttered grumpily as she got to her feet, immediately feeling pins and needles in her legs after being sat in the same position on the concrete floor for so long. Her shoulders also throbbed from having her hands restrained behind the pole. She wiped at her lips, trying to get the last of the stubborn adhesive off them.

"I think you did great," Elena said, trying to placate her as she also stood up, dropping the rope to the floor. It would be needed again soon enough. "I know I wouldn't want to be tied up like that."

"Maybe you should be, so I can get my own back."

"Hey, you agreed to it," Elena reminded her. "In fact you made suggestions about me torturing you more."

That was true, Ronda admitted to herself. It just felt a lot less like a good idea while she was going through with it. "The finished product will be worth it, I guess."

"And so will our match, when you get to kick my ass for what I've done."

The cameraman returned with a thermos flask and a small stack of the plastic cups. Ronda was glad that she didn't take cream or sugar as there seemed to be none on offer. Her cup was poured first and handed to her. She drank half of it down right away, despite the temperature. It was worth it just to taste something different in her mouth. With that accomplished, she started towards the door. "I'm going for some fresh air for a few minutes." It wasn't a question, so Alice didn't object.

When she walked out into the baking hot sunlight, Ronda took her phone out of her jeans pocket and dialed Seth's number, having to shield the screen from the sun so that she could see the display. Chatting to her husband, even if only for a couple of minutes, would help to calm her down before she really did snap at someone. No one had done anything wrong, and she had agreed to the idea, but the discomfort still had her worked up.

"Hey, babe," Seth answered after a few rings.

"Hi, honey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just been for lunch with Dean and Bayley. It was only a cheap place, but they had a nice omelette. Heading back to the hotel now to pack my things for the show this evening."

"Alright for some," Ronda griped, wishing she could have been sitting in a restaurant eating an omelette, even if it was a cheap restaurant. Only then did it occur to her that she had been quite rude to her man. "Sorry. I didn't meant to be like that. Today's not exactly been much fun. I'm glad you had a nice time."

"It's not been fun?" Seth inquired.

"No. Put it this way, I've just spent what felt like three hours handcuffed and tied to a steel pole, with my legs tied together and tape over my mouth. I've had better days."

Seth chuckled. "Typical Daga. Doesn't do anything in half measures, does she?"

"That's for sure. I mean, I know the results will be worth it, but I'm not exactly enjoying the filming."

"You should do," Seth told her, trying to encourage her. "You're proving to people that you can act in roles where your character is weak. You've hardly done that in WWE, or in any of your movies. Who knows, maybe someone will watch our shows, see the scenes you're filming and decide they want to cast you in a movie as a kidnap victim or something? Look at it as a way to develop your acting skills, to improve, rather than something to get annoyed about. Yeah, I'm sure it is an uncomfortable experience, but so is getting thrown around a wrestling ring. I'm sure you're doing a great job, and the scenes will look awesome when they go out."

As was often the case, Ronda found herself smiling not long after going to Seth with a problem. He always seemed to know what to say to get her to focus on the positives of a situation rather than the negatives, which she found difficult to do by herself. It was just one of the reasons that she was so lucky to have him. She took the time to sip some more of her coffee before answering him. "You're right, honey. I'm sorry to complain at you. You really think people might be impressed by my acting in this kind of role? It's hardly the kind of thing I'd usually expect to be doing."

"Exactly, babe. Like I said, you're proving that you can act well in the role of a victim. There are lots of movies out there which need a hot chick to play a victim. And you've definitely got the hot chick part covered," he added, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly lacking in the looks department yourself, mister."

Alice opened the door and walked out, heading around the side of the building. Ronda figured out where she was going. The next scene was supposed to be taking place more than a week after the first. Makeup was going to be used to make her look like she had been kept in the warehouse for that amount of time. Alice was presumably going to be the one to apply it, and was heading to the van to get the supplies she needed.

"I do try," Seth said on the other end of the phone. "Have you heard anything from Maggie?"

"Not for a couple of days," Ronda replied with a hint of sadness. There had been a time when she would talk to her best friend every day, but that had changed now that Maggie had moved in with her boyfriend. "I'll have to call her later, when I'm done here. I don't want to end up loosing touch with her."

"Loosing touch with her?" Seth asked, incredulous. "Babe, you're never going to lose touch with Maggie, trust me. She's just busy settling in with Adam. You know what it's like when you move in together for the first time. You only have time for each other for a while. It's only natural. Call her later, she'll be glad you did."

"I will." Ronda saw Alice walk back around the corner of the building. The shorter woman gestured towards the door with her head, clearly indicating that she wanted to get on with the job. Fair enough, Ronda admitted to herself. She would have gotten impatient if she was the director and one of the people she was trying to work with stood outside waffling on the phone.

"We need to invite them up to the house anyway, now that we're getting it sorted out," Seth was saying.

"You're right. Honey, I've got to go. I've got the director giving me evils over here."

"I'm sure you're giving them right back," Seth chuckled. "I'll talk to you later. Tell Daga I said go easy on you. She wouldn't believe that though, would she?"

"No way," Ronda said, smiling. "Bye, baby. I love you."

"Love you too." Seth ended the call.

"All set?" Alice asked, standing in the doorway, holding the door open.

"Yeah. You can make look like I'm covered in shit now, or whatever it is you're going to do."

They walked into the building and Ronda sat down on the only thing that was available, a large metal casing which covered up what looked like an extractor fan of some kind. Alice started to go to work with the makeup, and Elena walked over to join them while the two cameramen chatted away to each other on the other side of the room.

"I've had an idea," the Italian announced as she approached. "Something we could add to the next scene. Something else my character can do to torment Ronda."

"I'm not sure we should go off the script too much and make the scenes longer than Hunter wanted them," Alice said cautiously. For the first time, Ronda found herself not liking what she heard from the director.

"Don't come with that shit, Alice. You think you'll get anywhere like that? If we add a minute to the scene and make it better, Hunter will think we've done a good job."

"That's easy for you to say," Alice pointed out. "You might not get in trouble for it, but it could be a different story for me."

Ronda considered that for a moment. "How about we listen to the idea, then decide what to do?"

"Okay," the producer agreed.

Elena outlined her proposed changes, and Ronda nodded her agreement. "I think that's a good idea. I mean, I've been through enough already today, so there's no point holding back now is there?"

"I actually like what you've come up with," Alice confessed, wavering on the edge of making a decision one way or the other.

"Hunter will like it," Ronda assured her. "And I'll tell you what I'll do. If he doesn't like it, I'll say it was my idea and I forced it through."

Alice gave a little laugh. "That would probably make me look worse, not better. I'm the producer here, not you. It's my decision if we do this or not."

"What's the thing you say in America?" Daga asked, trying to recall the phrase she wanted. "No guts, no glory? Is that right?"

"Yeah." Ronda grinned at Alice. "You're right, though, you're the director. It's your call."

Alice clearly felt pressured as she took a moment to think it over. "Alright, here's how it's going to go," she announced, finding her authority again. "We'll film your idea, Daga, but we'll do it in such a way that Hunter can have it edited out if he doesn't want it. Fair enough?"

"Yes," Elena said as Ronda nodded.

"Good. Now let me concentrate on this makeup, please."

Elena finished her coffee and set the empty cup on the metal casing beside Ronda. "What about her clothes?"

"What about my clothes?" Ronda narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"We're putting makeup on you and messing up your hair to make you look like you've been kept here for a week. Surely your clothes should be dirty too, no?"

"You want to ruin my clothes?" Ronda asked, even as she realised that it was a good point. As a perfectionist, she was surprised that she hadn't thought of it herself.

"I think we should, if we want it to look realistic. You can put them on expenses, yes?"

"I suppose I could," Ronda said thoughtfully. "I'm sure Hunter wouldn't have a problem with that. I'll have to buy some more before going to the airport later, though. I don't have anything to change into. No way am I traveling in dirty clothes."

Elena smiled as she had another idea. "I'll follow you in my car if you like. We can go around some stores together. I can always use new clothes."

"Yeah, let's do that," Ronda smiled. "And if there's time before our flights, we can find somewhere nice to eat as well."

"It's a date."

Ronda giggled. "Let's not go that far. Bayley might not be happy."

"Aright, can I get on with this makeup now?" Alice asked, not trying to hide her irritation at the constant chatter.

Staying quiet and allowing the smaller woman to work, Ronda watched Elena pacing around the room, mumbling away to herself as she practiced her lines for the upcoming scene. Half an hour later, Alice announced that she was done.

"Daga, what do you think?"

Elena walked over and studied Ronda for a moment. A broad smile indicated the verdict before she confirmed it. "Perfect. Come on then, Ronda, time for me to tie you up again."

Exaggerating her reluctance as she got up off the metal fan casing, Ronda shook her head. "You say the nicest things to me, Daga, you know that?"


	7. Chapter 7

Carrying a large bottle of water, Elena D'Agostino walked across the dimly lit warehouse towards her captive, who was still sitting on the concrete floor, with her back against the same metal pole. Even at a distance, it was obvious that Ronda was in a sorry state. Her hair was a bedraggled mess, her clothes were grimy from not having been changed for such a large number of days, and most notable of all, she sat with her head bowed.

The reason that Ronda showed no reaction to Elena approaching soon became apparent. Still bound, handcuffed and gagged as before, she had somehow managed to fall asleep, or more likely, had passed out due to a combination of pain and fear.

"Wake up, Ronda," Elena said, clicking her fingers in her victim's face. She made it sound like putting up with her victim's inadequacies had long since become tiresome.

Ronda's eyes flickered open. They were now the eyes of a broken woman, containing no sign of anger or hatred, only desperation. "Mmmph," she moaned weakly, trying to gesture to the tape with her eyes.

"Yes, okay," Elena sighed irritably. She reached up and found the end of the tape, then unwrapped it, making no effort to be careful about pulling her hair out in the process.

Ronda cried out in pain when the tape was torn from her lips, then gratefully gasped in a few deep breaths. "Water," she managed to croak out, looking at the bottle that Elena had put down on the floor.

"What do you mean, 'water?' You could at least say please." Elena rolled the tape into a ball and tossed it away across the room.

"Please," Ronda said immediately, not caring how degrading it was or how pathetic she sounded.

"That's better," Elena said, as patronising as could be. "You're learning how this works now. If you want something, you ask for it nicely and say thank you when you get it. Here's your stupid water." She took the plastic top from the bottle and raised it to Ronda's lips. Quite deliberately, she tipped it at a steep angle so that Ronda couldn't drink fast enough. Water ended up pouring down her chin and onto her clothes.

"Manners?" Elena demanded when she took the bottle away.

"Thank you," Ronda mumbled, looking down as she spoke to try and spare herself the tiniest amount of humiliation.

"Look at you," Elena said, shaking her head at the sorry sight in front of her. "You can't even drink properly. Here, let me get that for you." She lifted Ronda's chin, then used her other hand to wipe the excess water away. "Look on the bright side. Tomorrow's the night Cesaro's going to give your husband the chance to sign the contract guaranteeing him a title match. If he signs it, I just might let you go. You never know your luck."

"Seth will sign it," Ronda assured her, voice sounding a lot better after the drink.

"You'd better hope so," Elena said, raising her eyebrows and cocking her head slightly to the side. "Because if he doesn't, it's not going to go well for you. I'll have no choice but to start doing things to you to convince him he's made the wrong decision."

"He'll sign it," Ronda insisted again, fear creeping into her tone.

"Hey, I've just had an idea," Elena said with way too much enthusiasm. "You're going to love this one, Ronda. You must be bored out of your mind after how long you've been here, so why don't we play a game?"

"What game?" Ronda asked warily.

"A game where we imagine that Seth is in the room with us right now, and you have the chance to convince him to sign Cesaro's contract. What would you say to him?"

"I'd tell him to sign it."

"No, no, no, no no," Elena said, wagging her finger in Ronda's face. "That's not how we play the game. I said imagine Seth is in the room, and you have a chance to convince him to sign. I want to know what you would say to him, and I want you to make it convincing. Let's add an extra rule as well, yes? If I'm not happy with your performance, I'm going to stand up and kick the hell out of you, right here, right now."

Ronda cowered away as much her bonds would allow. "You don't have to do that."

"Then make it good." Elena sat down next to Ronda as if they were old friends and pointed across the room at nothing in particular. "Seth's right over there. Convince him to sign the contract."

After closing her eyes for a moment, Ronda submitted to the latest humiliation. "Seth, please, just sign it," she begged. "Sign it so she will let me go, please. I don't want to be locked in here anymore."

Elena laughed maniacally as Ronda neared the end of her short speech. Turning to face her captive, she gave a broad smile. "Very good, Ronda. That's very good. You did so well, I'm not going to kick your face in. Not now, anyway."

Ronda closed her eyes again, this time in relief.

"That's where you use your manners," Elena prompted her, as if teaching a young child.

"Thank you."

"Good girl. I think I'm done hearing from you now." Elena removed a roll of duct tape from her coat pocket.

"No," Ronda pleaded, eyes widening as she looked at it. "Please, you don't need to do that again."

Elena stopped and weighed that up for a moment, before shrugging. "You're right."

For a second, relief washed over Ronda, but then Elena moved quickly, stretching out a length of tape and pressing it down over Ronda's mouth before she could even try and turn her head away. "Nmmmm," Ronda pleaded weakly, only to be ignored by Elena, who wrapped the tape incredibly tightly around her head twice in what had become the customary manner.

"You're right, I don't need to do it. I  _want_  to do it. You think you're on vacation here or something, Ronda? You're a hostage." She pointed a finger at her taped face. "And that is what a hostage is supposed to look like."

"Tmmk mm omph," Ronda pleaded, as much with her eyes as her attempted words.

"No, I'm not going to take it off. Why would I do that? First, I'm already tired of listening to your annoying voice, and second, what if someone decides to stop their car outside for some reason? You think I'm going to let them hear you screaming and rescue you, with all the fun we're having? No chance."

With another pitiful moan, Ronda tried to strain her hands against the handcuffs, with predictable results.

Elena clicked her fingers, then gave Ronda a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Hey, I almost forgot, I brought something for you. It's great. I know you're going to love it. Let me go get it. Don't go anywhere, will you?"

As the sound of Elena's footsteps receded, Ronda renewed her fruitless efforts to get free, wriggling her ankles against their bonds and thrashing against the the rope around her chest as best she could, achieving nothing of note. "Hmmmmmph!" she screamed as loudly as she could into the gag, not that anyone outside of the building would have heard, even if there had been someone there.

Within moments, the sound of the footsteps returned. Elena walked right past Ronda without saying anything to her and got to work doing something to one of the other metal poles that ran from floor to ceiling. When she was done with that, she threw something up into the air, grunting with the effort. Ronda watched on with wide eyes, nostrils flaring as she tried to breathe in enough air in her panicked state.

"There we are, Ronda," Elena said happily, proudly displaying her handiwork to her captive. A noose now dangled from one of the steel support beams that ran along under the roof. "Just in case Seth doesn't see things Cesaro's way, yes?"

Eyes widening even further, Ronda started begging for her life, doing her absolute best to communicate through the tape. For a short time, Elena just stood there, looking down at her with an impassive look on her face, not seeming to register any of the muffled sounds that were coming her way.

"So this is the great Ronda Rousey?" She shook her head sadly. "If only your fans could see you now, huh? I honestly thought you were a real badass. I thought you were the Queen of WWE. I thought no one dared to mess with you. People told me Ronda Rousey destroyed anyone who dared to get on the wrong side of her. You don't look that scary from where I'm standing."

"Jmmp lmm mm gmph," Ronda tried again.

Still ignoring her, Elena crouched down in front of her and brushed some of her messy hair away from her face. Their noses almost touched as Elena stared into her eyes. "Here's the thing, Ronda. You've finally found someone who isn't afraid of you. Elena D'Agostino is not afraid of Ronda Rousey, do you hear me?"

Ronda just stared into her eyes.

"What, now you want to stop talking? I asked you a question!" Elena screamed in her face. "I said do you hear me? I am not afraid of you!"

"Ymmph," Ronda replied, clearly afraid of the consequences of failing to answer again.

"I own you, Ronda. Whether I let you go at the end of this or not, I now own Ronda Rousey, yes?"

"Ymm," Ronda mumbled, looking down to avoid eye contact.

"I can't hear you! And look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Ronda looked up. Tears of shame filled her eyes. "Ymmmph."

"Damn right I do," Elena said, standing back up. "Now you sit here and shut up. One way or another, I'll be back tomorrow. Now might be the time to start praying that your husband loves you as much as you think he does."

The Italian walked away, leaving Ronda alone. Alone, terrified and helpless, tears began to stream down her face and she started whimpering in to her gag. Elena D'Agostino appeared to have mentally destroyed her.


	8. Chapter 8

Following Seth into Hunter's office backstage at Smackdown, Ronda saw that the Chairman wasn't the only one who was there for the impromptu meeting. Four people had been engaged in conversation until the door opened. Stephanie was perched on the corner of her husband's desk, with Hunter standing beside her. Cesaro and Elena were also standing in the office. Greetings were exchanged all round before Hunter clapped him hands together once, his usual way of signalling the start of the important part of a conversation.

"Okay guys, just a couple of things about the storyline. First of all, Daga, Ronda, great job with those scenes you filmed a couple of weeks ago."

"Yes, that was excellent work," Stephanie added with a smile. "It was nice to see another side of you, Ronda. And Daga, well, you're becoming a truly outstanding heel."

"Thank you," Elena replied appreciatively, while Ronda just nodded.

"Exactly," Hunter said, meaning that he agreed with his wife's comments. "In fact, what we decided when we discussed it at a creative meeting yesterday, is that we liked the way you slightly changed up the last scene so much that we're going to make changes of our own to work with it. The impression both Steph and I got when we watched it was that it seemed like Daga had mentally broken Ronda. We liked that, but to have Ronda released tonight and then show up next week spoiling for a fight doesn't seem to sit right."

"I thought the same thing when I watched it last night," Cesaro said.

"So what's the new idea?" Ronda asked, successfully keeping any potential edge out of her voice.

"You'll be released as we already discussed before," Hunter said. "But now I want no dialog from you at all, Ronda. All I want is Seth untying you, telling you it's going to be okay. Then we cut back to the commentary table, where the guys question exactly what state Ronda Rousey is in, will she ever be the same again, that kind of thing."

"I think that makes sense," Seth said, nodding. "If that's the way we're going, we probably shouldn't see Ronda again at all until Battleground."

"Yes," Elena joined in. "There could be a question if Ronda will even show up for the fight."

Ronda stood and listened, struggling to bite her tongue as Hunter carried on. The suggestion that she wouldn't show up for a fight had gotten right under her skin, even though she knew Elena had meant no offense.

"You guys are thinking along the same lines as we are," the boss was saying. "Daga, you just said exactly what I'm going to have happen. Your character will carry the buildup to the unsanctioned match, challenging Ronda to it, but then saying that you doubt she will actually show up because you've broken her for good. Ronda Rousey is a coward and she's finished, all of that stuff that will have the fans ready to tear you a new one."

"There's only one problem I can see with that," Seth said thoughtfully.

Hunter turned to him. "Go on."

"If there's that big of a question over Ronda's state of mind and we're suggesting she might not even return, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for me to be on Smackdown either. Even if I'm trying to beat the hell out of Cesaro for masterminding the whole thing, I would have still left my wife in her time of need. Does that make sense, or am I sounding stupid?"

"No, I think it's a good point," Stephanie said, looking at Hunter, who took a moment to think about it.

"Leaving you off TV as well, Seth, would mean that we have two huge pay-per-view matches being built by only one of the people in them. I'm not exactly high on that idea."

"It's only for a couple of weeks," Stephanie pointed out. "And the abduction thing is already some pretty powerful buildup work."

"That's true," the Chairman conceded.

"I don't think Daga and I will have any problem carrying the buildup," Cesaro said. "Give us some promos to do, maybe run the abduction scenes again, and the fans will be hyped up to see us both get our asses kicked. Of course, that will give me even more heat when I win the title."

"Alright," Hunter decided after a moment of thought. "We'll go with that. Everyone happy?" Nods and mumbles of agreement came from everyone. "Ronda? You've been very quiet."

To her own surprise, Ronda had calmed down as she had listened to the debate. Replaying Seth's words in her mind had helped a lot. She had to tell herself that her character appearing weak for the first time was a good thing. No one had seen it before, which would mean it captivated the audience. The fans would want to see her come back, and when she did in fact come back and beat the living shit out of the woman who had tortured her, the payoff would be fantastic. With those things in mind, she was able to respond to Hunter with a joke. "Since when has that been a bad thing?"

Both Hunter and Stephanie laughed, Stephanie a little louder than Ronda would have liked. The comment had obviously resonated with her.

"That's it then, guys," Hunter announced, bringing the meeting to a close. "Ronda, stay behind for a minute will you?"

As the other three visitors filed out of the room, Stephanie also made her excuses and followed them, which didn't surprise Ronda. She knew that she was viewed by the bosses as difficult to manage - rightly so, she had to admit, after some of the things that had happened in the past. Although she was a lot better in that regard than she had once been, Hunter often liked to spend a couple of minutes with her to make sure she was okay with everything that was happening, knowing about the mental health issues she had to deal with. Some people might have found the extra attention patronising, but then Hunter probably wouldn't have been giving those people individual attention to begin with. Personally, she appreciated the fact that he took the time when he didn't have to. It did sometimes make keeping her emotions under control easier.

"Ever played poker, Ronda?" the boss asked when his wife closed the door. There was a cheerful smile on his face.

"Huh? No, why?"

Hunter laughed. "You'd be terrible at it. I saw you trying to bite your tongue just now."

"Not trying, I did bite my tongue," Ronda pointed out with a small grin of her own.

"True. I know your character being booked as the weak one in a rivalry is a new thing for you, and I can understand why you would struggle with it a bit. What I wanted to say is, I think you did a really great job with those scenes. You were very convincing, particularly with the last one. Not only that, the whole thing made Daga look like a million dollars. I'm not sure we've ever had a female heel as good as her."

"You haven't," Ronda replied simply.

"I think it's a good idea if we work with this idea of a weaker Ronda for a future storyline, too. I'm not sure who we're going to put you with after your program with Daga is done, but I like the idea of that person saying that they're not afraid of you either. They would claim that Elena showed the whole roster that there's no reason to be afraid of Ronda Rousey. That gives us a lot of new options in terms of booking you, and that's a good thing."

"Although I ended up kicking her ass twice and taking her title," Ronda said, thinking aloud. "I don't know how weak that really makes me look." To her own surprise, she almost suggested losing the unsanctioned match to Elena instead of winning it, but no, that would bury her too much. After how weak she had looked during the abduction, she thought that losing the match as well could ruin her character for good.

"Hmmm," Hunter mumbled, deep in thought. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it would be better if you won the unsanctioned match, then lost the title match at Summerslam. Ultimately, that has Daga coming out on top of the rivalry and leaves people asking, what's next for Ronda? Is she the force she once was? Of course, it pushes Daga big time as well."

"Let's do that," Ronda said, finding the words coming out surprisingly easily. Of course, it helped that Elena was her friend, and really was deserving of a huge push.

"I'll put some thought into it and talk it over with Steph and the rest of the creative team. Thanks, Ronda, you can go."

"Okay, thank you, Hunter." Ronda turned and left the room, feeling strangely pleased and confident about the way things were going.

* * *

"I'm going to keep this simple," Cesaro said over the loud chorus of boos that rained down on him after his entrance music faded out. He was dressed immaculately in a black business suit and a light blue shirt. In his left hand was a clipboard with several sheets of paper fixed to it, which he raised to show the crowd as he continued. "What I have here is a contract guaranteeing me a match with Seth Rollins at Battleground for the WWE Championship. What's going to happen now is, Seth, you're going to make a decision. I would expect it to be a simple one to make. Either you come out here right now and sign this contract, and in return I will guarantee your wife, Ronda Rousey, will be released from captivity. Or you can refuse to sign it, and your wife won't be released from captivity. Then it's up to Elena D'Agostino to decide what to do with her. It's your choice, Rollins. What's it going to be?"

Almost instantaneously, Seth's music hit and he came charging out onto the stage with a look of fury on his face.

"Woah! Stop right there!" Cesaro shouted at him. "Not another step closer, Rollins, or the deal is off. I'll have the contract brought to you, if you are out here to sign it?"

"Where's my wife?" Seth raged into his microphone. "I want Ronda out here right now!"

"Seth, Seth, Seth," Cesaro replied condescendingly. "One of us is in a position to be making demands in this situation, but I don't think it's you. All you need to do is tell me whether you're going to sign this contract or not?"

"Of course I'll sign the stupid contract, but I want Ronda out here first or how do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't," Cesaro shrugged. "But that's not my problem, is it?"

"Alright, alright," Seth said, frustration boiling over. "Get the contract up here and I'll sign it."

Cesaro turned towards the timekeepers area. "JoJo, get your ass in here."

JoJo stood up, looking at lot less than enthusiastic about going near Cesaro. "Hurry up! I don't have all day to stand here!" he barked at her.

Intimidated, the ring announcer scurried up the ring steps as quickly as she could and got in the ring.

"Take that up to Rollins," Cesaro said, holding the clipboard out to her. "Let him sign it, then bring it back to me. Think you can manage that?"

Risking giving Cesaro a look of contempt, JoJo took the clipboard from him then carried it up to Seth, who waited impatiently on the stage. The WWE Champion took it from her and quickly signed it.

"I signed the damned thing, now where's my wife?" Seth demanded as JoJo headed back to the ring.

"Patience, Seth, patience." Cesaro walked over to the ropes as the ring announcer approached the ring and snatched the clipboard from her when she offered it to him. He then took a ridiculously long time to read it over, obviously toying with Seth by making him wait. "Okay, this all appears to be in order," he decided eventually. "As everyone knows, I'm a man of my word. Let me call Elena and arrange for your wife to be released."

Taking out his phone, he dialed a number and waited for the call to connect. A shot appeared on the big screen, showing Elena standing in a dimly lit room. Exactly where she was was not clear. She took a ringing phone out of her pocket and answered the incoming call. "Cesaro?"

"Rollins signed the contract," he announced without bothering with a greeting. "You can let what's left of that piece of trash go now."

"What a pity," Elena said, shaking her head sadly. She ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket, then walked across the room, which appeared to be a boiler room. Ronda was lying on her side on the floor in a corner, ankles and wrists bound with rope, hands behind her back. She was also gagged with duct tape in Elena's customary style. It was unclear in the dim lighting if she was conscious or not. If she was, there was no sign of any resistance from her.

"Seth, she's down here in the boiler room if you want her." One of her trademark cruel smiles appeared on her face. "You might want to hurry, before I change my mind and take her with me. I was having so much fun with her."

Seth had sprinted through the curtain before she even finished speaking. A cameraman followed him through the backstage areas, struggling to keep up. In less than a minute, Seth reached the boiler room and pushed the door open with a hint of caution in case Elena was lying in wait with a weapon of some kind. There was no sign of the Italian.

"Ronda?" Seth called out as he began to search the room for his wife. "I'm here, honey! Where are you?"

There was no response, but Seth rounded a stack of metal storage containers and saw his wife lying motionless on the floor in exactly the same place as she had been when Elena had been there. "Ronda! Honey!" Seth gasped out in relief as he hurried over there and crouched down beside her.

Getting no response, Seth began the task of freeing her by starting to unwrap the tape. "It's okay, honey. It's all over now. I'm here."


	9. Chapter 9

Getting ready for a big pay-per-view match was always an intense experience for Ronda. It was also an experience that she hadn't had for some time. During her last run, before taking time off to head back to Hollywood after finishing the Revolutionary documentary, she hadn't been booked in a meaningful rivalry at all. The upcoming match promised to be right at the opposite end of that particular scale.

Frankly, she thought as she watched Seth carefully taping up one of her wrists, WWE's women's roster was lacking some depth at the moment. Due a combination of factors ranging from retirement in the case of Devon Dawson, to pregnancy in the case of Sarita Lopez, to moving on after contract expiry in the case of several others, the division certainly wasn't what it had once been.

At least the future looked bright, though. Hunter hadn't reduced his commitment to women's wrestling - it was just going through a period of change. There were several hot prospects in the NXT women's division, including Ronda's friend Charlotte Flair, who had decided to try her hand at wrestling after her father had passed away, as a tribute to him. Sasha Banks and Asuka were two other names that people were speaking highly of. When Hunter chose to call up some of those women to join herself, Elena, Bayley, Nikki Bella and Paige, Ronda knew that they would be set for a long time to come.

"You okay, babe?" Seth asked. "You don't seem focused like you usually are, especially before a match this big."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Ronda smiled at her husband. "I was just thinking about the other women, hoping Hunter makes some call ups from NXT soon. I'd love to wrestle Charlotte. She's really got the potential to be something special. Seeing how good she is, I can't believe she didn't start out years ago to be honest."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Seth said, moving on to taping up her other wrist. "You guys could have one hell of a match. Imagine a triple threat with Daga?"

"Don't," Ronda said, eyes widening at the prospect. "I think that would be my dream match."

"Time to get your game face on though, babe. You've got a very big, very violent match ahead of you. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," she nodded, with a steely look of determination.

"That's more like it."

* * *

Standing alone behind the curtain, Ronda could hear the crowd all over Elena after her music faded out. There was a short promo for her opponent to cut before her music would hit.

"Go ahead, boo me," she heard Elena begin. The crowd gladly obliged her. "You can boo all you want, and you can stand there in your stupid Team Rousey shirts. Look at this dumb bitch in the front row. Don't stick your finger up at me, girl. I'll come out there and break your face."

Ronda had to chuckle despite trying to remain focused. That was so typical of Daga.

"I know why you're booing. You're doing it because you came here expecting to see Ronda Rousey and Elena D'Agostino go at it like we did last time, only more violent, more brutal, more bloody. And you wanted to see Ronda beat me again."

The fans cheered their agreement.

"But that's not going to happen. Unless you've spent the last few weeks, what is the stupid American expression? Living under a rock? Unless you've been doing that for the last few weeks, you will know by now that I now own Ronda Rousey."

Boos rained down, but Elena carried on, shouting over the top of them. "I terrorised Ronda Rousey. I  _destroyed_ Ronda Rousey. There will be not unsanctioned fight here tonight, because Ronda Rousey will not dare to show up. The thought of even having to look into my eyes again is too terrifying for her. She's weak, pathetic, like all of you."

More boos, which were still ignored. "So what's going to happen now is, I'm going to stand here and take a win by forfeit, then get the hell out of this dump you call a city."

"Okay, Ronda, in three," one of the crew called out. She took in a breath and got ready for her music to hit.

The fans erupted when the theme for their favourite female star began to play, and the roof nearly came off the arena when they saw Ronda sprint out through the curtain, running to the ring as fast as she could to get her hands on her nemesis.

As she ran, Ronda tried to take in the reaction she was getting. It was always such a great feeling to have everyone in the building going insane just because they heard her music. Nearing the ring, she ran right past Maggie and her boyfriend, who Seth had managed to hook up with ringside tickets. They were in the corner next to the entrance way, and they were roaring her on along with everyone else.

Sliding under the bottom rope, Ronda saw that Elena had played her part perfectly, struggling to get her arms out of the leather jacket that she had worn to the ring. It was the same one she had been wearing during the abduction scenes, and the jeans she had on could possibly have been the same ones too, as if her character wanted those things to serve as a reminder to Ronda of what she had been through.

If that had been the plan, it didn't work. As planned ahead of time, Ronda took the advantage right away, connecting with several thunderous left hands, each one knocking Elena down, only to have her bounce right back up again. It took her until after the third punch to get the jacket off and free her arms.

Within moments the action had spilled to the outside. Still with the momentum, and with the fans still going crazy, Ronda launched her opponent clean across the Spanish announce table, taking out the men sitting behind it.

The war was underway.

* * *

Physically exhausted after half an hour of the most extreme violence that WWE allowed, Ronda lay on her back in the middle of the ring, looking up at the lights. Broken remains of tables and almost ever other weapon that could possibly be found under a wrestling ring littered the ringside area.

Blood had been flowing from a painful laceration on her back for the past several minutes. The injury had been sustained when she had been whipped into a table which had been propped upright against the turnbuckles in the corner of the ring. When she'd hit the table, the wood had broken as intended, but she had ended up sliding down a piece of the metal framework, slicing her back like a carving knife.

Looking over at Elena, who lay nearby, she saw her friend wiping blood from her face, telling the referee to leave her alone. A cut above her right eye was responsible, caused by a punch that Ronda had accidentally connected with. One hell of a black eye would develop over the coming days. Daga could take a beating, though, as evidenced by the fact that her back had been worn red raw in places by shots from not one, but three kendo sticks. The fans had loved that, seeing arguably the most hated heel in the company being battered with all three sticks consecutively, until all three were completely broken.

Ronda could feel bruising developing on her own back, thanks to several chair shots, the last of which had left them in the current situation, with both women down.

First to stir, Ronda heard the fans start to chant her name in encouragement, seeing that she could use any help she could get. The much hated Elena had taken an ass kicking, but she hadn't been finished off. For the next spot, Ronda needed to climb to the top rope. It was a highly unusual thing for her, and it caused the cheering to increase even more. Unfortunately for the crowd, Elena got up in time and rushed her before she could attempt a move.

A top rope superplex was a fairly standard move to take, and Ronda had done so many times before. This one was executed well by Elena, but as soon as Ronda hit the mat she knew she was in trouble. Big trouble.

Pain exploded in her neck, the very last thing she wanted to happen. Immediately, she thought back to the much less significant pain she had felt months earlier, in her last few matches before taking time off. She had dismissed it as a muscle or ligament strain and had decided not to mention it to anyone. That had been a very serious mistake, she now knew. In addition to the pain, she felt pins and needles in her right hand. Trying not to panic, she took a few seconds to check that all of her extremities worked. They did. That was enough for a sigh of relief.

Elena crawled over and covered her. The match had to go on, so Ronda kicked out at two. The end of the match was not far away. If there was one thing that might be called lucky, that was it. Ronda knew she had to get the match over with and get to the back with the doctors as soon as she could. It didn't take much brain power to figure out that there was a serious problem, and that it related to her past neck injury. The pins and needles were still there, and although the initial burst of pain had faded somewhat, trying to move was still painful. The real question was, how bad was the damage?

"You okay?" the referee asked, making a show of checking on her for the benefit of the audience.

"My neck. I can finish, but tell her to do it now."

Without questioning her further, the referee went over to Elena and passed on the message.

Luckily, the finish required Ronda to appear almost defeated, lying on the canvas. It was the only thing she felt capable of anyway. Elena would now be climbing out of the ring to fetch a baseball bat from under the apron.

The Italian reappeared, standing over Ronda, glaring down at her with nothing but hatred as she raised the bat high in the air, ready to strike the killer blow. However, Ronda wrapped her legs around one of Elena's and used the advantage to pull her down. After a few moments of frantic grappling, with both women desperate to get the upper hand, Ronda ended up with the bat in her hands, lying on her back, with Elena on top of her, with the bat seemingly crushing her throat.

Selling the fact that she couldn't breathe, Elena thrashed around, trying to claw away at Ronda's hands and the bat. The crowd roared in delight as Elena began to fade, but Ronda was finding every second to be torture. The way she had to position herself to sell the fact that she was putting all of her effort into crushing her opponent's throat with the bat was putting weight on her neck, and the pain was excruciating.

In kayfabe, Elena was almost unconscious now. One of her hands weakly tried to pry one of Ronda's away from the bat, before it fell to the canvas. Only then, with a motion that was barely perceptible, she tapped out.

The crowd erupted in delight, but celebration was the last thing on Ronda's mind. As soon as Elena rolled off her and the pressure on her neck was gone, the pain reduced significantly, but Ronda knew that did not mean much. Having already suffered one serious neck injury in her life, she knew the signs were bad. Not catastrophic, but bad. At least the pins and needles had stopped, that was something.

"Are you okay?" the referee asked again, crouching down next to her.

"My neck has gone," she told him through gritted teeth. He responded by gesturing for the ringside doctor to enter the ring.

Her music continued to play, but as she had made no attempt to celebrate the victory or even get to her feet, the crowd had sensed that something was wrong and had fallen almost silent. Ronda sat up, glad that it didn't actually hurt too much.

"What's happened, Ronda?" the doctor asked as he knelt down in front of her, a look of concern on his face.

"My neck. Something happened to it on that superplex. It hurt really bad for a while. Feels like it's wearing off a bit now, but something's definitely wrong."

"Any numbness in your arms now, or anywhere else?"

"I did have pins and needles in my right hand, but it's gone now."

The doctor seemed relieved by that. "Okay, we need to get you to the back. Do you want me to get a stretcher down here?"

"I don't think I need one. I want to try and walk out if I can. You'll have to send me for scans, right?"

"Yeah. We'll get that done for you as soon as we can. Right now though, let's worry about getting you out of the ring, okay? I'll help you try and stand. If you get any pain or numbness, tell me and I'll get a stretcher down here. We don't want to risk making it worse."

Ronda's music faded out just before the doctor helped her to her feet. Thankfully, there was no fresh wave of pain. The worst seemed to be over, not that it was much comfort. There was still obviously a serious problem. She saw that Elena had already disappeared from the ring. The fans started to applaud, showing both respect and concern, not that she could really take it in.

"You alright?" the doctor asked as he helped her over to the ropes.

"Yeah. I can walk. You don't need to help me, thank you."

"Okay." The doctor held the ropes open to make it easier for her to get out of the ring.

Walking down the steps, Ronda realised that she was going to walk right past Maggie and Adam, both of whom had worried looks on their faces. Maggie also had tears in her eyes.

"Ronnie, what's happened?" her best friend asked when she was close enough. "Is it your neck?"

"Yeah. I got a lot of pain on that superplex. It's wearing off, but something's wrong. I'm going to have to get it looked at."

"Oh God," Maggie gasped as a tear made its way down her cheek.

"Don't cry," Ronda said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Who knows, maybe it's not too bad?" Neither of them believed that, but it was just the kind of thing that people said to comfort each other. With that, the doctor lead her the rest of the way up the aisle, with the fans still applauding and some of them chanting her name.

Seth was right there as soon as she walked through the curtain, with a look of concern bordering on panic on his face. He was careful not to hug her in case he caused further pain. "Babe, what happened? Is it your neck?"

"Yeah. Something's wrong. It's not hurting too bad now, but there's definitely something wrong. I got a lot of pain on the superplex and I had pins and needles in my right hand for a minute or so."

"We're going to have to send her for scans," the doctor said, to Hunter more than anyone else. The boss had just walked over to join them.

"I'm okay, I think," Ronda tried to assure Hunter and Seth. "I can still feel pain, but it's not too bad. I think I got away with the worst of it."

"It's still a bad sign, with a history like yours," Hunter said with concern of his own. He was referring to her previous neck injury.

"I know," Ronda sighed, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"But we've got access to the best doctors in the world," Hunter reminded her. "We'll make sure you get the very best care, whatever the scans say, okay?"

"Thanks, Hunter. I just want to go to my locker room, if that's okay?"

"Doc?" Hunter asked.

The doctor nodded his agreement. "I don't see anything to be immediately concerned about. Obviously no physical activity at all until you've had your scans, though, Ronda. No training, nothing. Understood?"

"Yes," Ronda mumbled, deflated.

"Alright," Hunter said, resting a hand on Ronda's shoulder for a moment. She could see in his eyes that he felt her pain, at least the emotional side of it. He had suffered serious injuries of his own in the past and had been told that his career might be over, only to come back stronger than ever. "We'll contact you with info on your appointment for scans. And for what it's worth, you guys killed it out there."

"I'll come by in a few minutes at get that cut cleaned up for you," the doctor added, gesturing to her back.

Ronda nodded. She had forgotten all about the wound, even though it was still bleeding.

"Talk to Daga," Hunter said as a parting shot. "She's got the idea that she fucked up and hurt you. I told her it didn't look like she did to me, but, yeah, just talk to her will you?"

"Of course. This wasn't her fault at all." Ronda looked further along the hallway to where Elena was sitting on top of an equipment crate. Bayley was standing beside her, obviously trying to comfort her as a member of the medical team worked on the cut above her eye. The Italian looked more downcast than Ronda had ever seen her before.

When they were far enough away from Hunter and the doctor, but not yet close enough to be overheard by Elena and Bayley, Seth took Ronda's hand and stopped walking. He looked into her eyes and she saw nothing but love there. "I'm here with you, honey. Whatever might happen with this, I'm here for you. I love you."

Squeezing his hand, Ronda leaned in and kissed him on the lips. "I know you are, honey. Let's be honest, I was always on borrowed time with my neck," she admitted with an air of resignation.

"Don't talk like that. The scans might come back with good news."

"Yeah," Ronda agreed. There wasn't much else she could have said. She wanted to be as hopeful as he was, but it was not working. She had already made one decision on her walk from the ring. If this ended with her being told that she needed neck surgery to carry on wrestling, she was not going to do it. She had been through that experience before: the surgery, and even worse, the rehab. It was not something she could go through again, or, frankly, something she needed to go through again. Yes, wrestling was what she loved to do, but she simply did not think it was worth going through all of that pain and suffering again to keep doing it. Even if she did, how long could she possibly wrestle for before her neck went again? There was the possibility of a really serious injury as well, maybe even paralysis. That thought terrified her like nothing else on Earth. She had heard people say in the past that when your time came to retire, you just knew it was your time. In that moment, that was how she felt. If her neck was as bad as she suspected, this was her time.

"What are you thinking?" Seth asked softly.

"I'm thinking that if they tell me I need surgery, I'm not doing it. I can't go through that again. Maybe I've done enough in wrestling, honey. Maybe it's time to retire." She surprised herself with how easily she was able to say it.

Seth risked hugging her, being as gentle as he could. "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you. I always will be. If you do stop doing this, there's a whole world of other options out there for you. Let's not decide anything until the we get the results of the scans though, huh?"

"Of course," Ronda replied, hugging him tightly for a moment. His support in that moment, as she faced the real prospect that she might have just had her last match, was invaluable to her. "Let's go speak to Daga. I need to make sure she knows this wasn't her fault."

"Ronda, I'm so sorry," Elena said, getting up off the equipment case as she and Seth approached. "I can't believe I hurt you..."

"Daga, stop," Ronda said, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "You did nothing wrong at all. The only one who fucked up in that match was me, punching you in the face. I'm the one who's sorry, okay? You know I had major neck surgery years ago. This kind of thing was probably always going to happen at some point. You did nothing wrong on that superplex at all. I want you to get the idea that you fucked up out of your head, because you didn't. This could have happened when I was in the ring with Bayley, or Nikki, or anyone else. It happened to be you. That doesn't make it your fault. All I have to say to you is, if my scans come back with bad news and that proves to be my last match, I can live with it. It was amazing. Thank you."

"Oh, Ronda," Elena breathed, then hugged her friend. "I love you, you know that, yes?" Her genuine relief that Ronda did not blame her for what had happened was palpable, but so was her grief at the fact that her friend now feared for her career.

"Of course. I love you too. I'm going to go, Daga. I need some time with Seth, alright? But like I said, I don't want you blaming yourself for this. It wasn't your fault."

"Okay." The Italian released her embrace, then Bayley wished Ronda good luck with her scans.

Hand in hand, Ronda and Seth walked towards their locker room. "I still think the news might not be as bad as you're thinking," Seth said hopefully.

Ronda looked at him and forced a smile. "We'll see."


	10. Chapter 10

Only a few short days after her match with Elena D'Agostino, Ronda was sitting in a doctor's office, looking at X-Ray scans of her neck. This was the same office that Nikki Bella had sat in when she had needed a miracle to ever wrestle again due to a neck injury. This was the doctor who had managed to work that miracle. While the scans and a lot of the medical terminology she was hearing did not mean much to Ronda, one thing was obvious: There was going to be no miracle for her, even if she had been willing to undergo surgery, which she had already definitely ruled out, with Seth's full support.

Sadly, Seth hadn't been allowed to take time off to come to the appointment with her, so Maggie was sitting beside her instead. Looking over at her friend, Ronda could see that Maggie was possibly taking the news even harder than she was herself.

Maggie glanced back at her and quickly returned her attention to the doctor. She had not done it quickly enough for Ronda not to catch sight of the dampness in her eyes.

The doctor was a tall, lean man in his late fifties, who spoke in a professional, measured manner. Ronda listened for another couple of minutes, until he paused to take a drink of water.

"Bottom line, Doc," she said politely. "What are we saying here? Put it in simple terms for me, please. Am I done?"

A smile appeared on his face. Perhaps he found her style amusing. The smile was tinged with more than a hint of sadness, however. "In simple terms? You can't keep taking bumps on your neck. Doing so would leave you at great risk of serious injury or even paralysis. In some cases, I would suggest surgery to try and repair the damage. I know you're friends with Nikki Bella, so I assume you know about the process she and I went through with her neck?"

Ronda nodded her agreement. "We talked about it in detail one night over a bottle of wine or three."

The doctor chuckled at that, liking the fact that Ronda could crack a joke at a time like this. "And of course you've already had a serious neck injury of your own, requiring major surgery and lengthy rehab. And therein lies the problem. You've had major neck surgery once, and I'm sure you knew when you started out as a wrestler that your neck wouldn't stay the course forever."

Ronda nodded again, already knowing what she was about to hear.

"I'm sorry to say that you've now reached that point, Ronda. As I've shown you on your X-Rays, you have damage again in the same area that was previously operated on. It's for that reason that I have to tell you, I will not be willing to perform the surgery that you would require in order to continue wrestling. There are simply too many risks involved. It would be more likely that I would permanently injure or paralyse you on the operating table than actually help you. And even if the surgery was successful, there would be no guarantee that you could return to the ring."

That had all been expected. What made Ronda start feeling anxious to the point that her stomach started churning was the next thing she had to ask. If this did not go her way, she really would be devastated.

"Doc, I already decided I don't want surgery," Ronda helped him out, with a sigh. "I couldn't do it again, even if you were willing to operate. I've talked it all over at length with my husband, and what I decided was, all I want is one more match. I want to be able to say goodbye to my fans in the right way. Please, please tell me I can have one more match?"

The few seconds it took him to consider his answer seemed like the longest of Ronda's life. She felt Maggie squeezing her hand like a vice. Her friend was feeling every bit of the anxiety herself.

"Well," the doctor said thoughtfully. "Your neck's not at the stage right now where I would have to suggest immediate retirement. With certain restrictions in place and agreed to by all parties, I would be willing to clear you for one more match."

"One more is all I want," Ronda said quickly. "I'll agree to whatever conditions you want to put in place. I don't want to get hurt, of course, but I have to have one more match."

"Very well, Ronda."

He went on to outline the things she wouldn't be allowed to do in her last match. Most of them were high risk spots that she would not have dreamed of attempting anyway, knowing that her neck was in a fragile state.

"I understand, Doc. Like I said, I agree to all of that. Do I have to sign something?"

"That's between you and WWE. What I'll do is forward a copy of these X-Rays along with my analysis of them, and a report of our discussion here today. I will add my recommendation, which is that you are cleared for one match, and one match only. But ultimately, that is WWE's decision."

"I understand," Ronda repeated, with a grateful smile. "What about after retirement? Like, later in life. Will I have problems with my neck?"

"As long as you stop taking impacts on it, you should be fine. There might be some minor pain from time to time, but I don't expect anything serious. Of course, if you do have significant pain at any time, you can come back and see me."

"Thanks, Doc. I'll do that."

"Any further questions I can help you with?"

"No, thank you."

"Okay then," the doctor said, rising to his feet to signal that the consultation was over. "Take care, Ronda. I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news."

"The news you gave me was pretty much what I expected," Ronda said as she also stood, then shook his hand. "All I wanted was a retirement match, so thank you for giving that to me."

"You're welcome, but again, remember I can only make a recommendation. WWE will take their own judgment on it and decide if you get the match or not."

Ronda did not have much concern about that, feeling confident that Hunter would grant her one more match as a chance to say goodbye. There was also one other very important thing she wanted to use the match for, and the boss would like that too. She waited while Maggie said goodbye to the doctor, then they left the office.

"Oh, Ronnie," Maggie said sadly once they were out in the hallway and heading for the exit. "It's all so sudden. This time last week everything was great, now you only have one match left in your career. It's heartbreaking."

Ronda gave her closest friend a reassuring smile, finding some amusement in the fact that it was not the other way around. "Don't be sad about it. I've come to terms with it. Like the man said, it was always going to come to this at some point with my neck being the way it is. I did a hell of a lot with the time I had, right?"

"You sure did," Maggie agreed, managing a smile. "And it's obviously a good thing that he said he wouldn't stop you having the last match you wanted."

"Yeah. If he'd have said no to that, that would have fucked me up. When we get outside I'm going to call Seth, then I'm going to call Hunter. I have to hear him say that he'll give me the match, then I can deal with the retirement. There are plenty of other things I can move on to after I'm done in the ring."

"Are you thinking about doing more movies?"

"Maybe. I'm sure there will be offers in the future. I have something else in mind that Seth and I talked about last night, but I'm not going to say more until we've looked into it, to see if it's actually possible."

Maggie's eyes widened. "Oh, very interesting. Very mysterious."

"I'll tell you about it if it looks like it will work out, I promise."

They walked out into the parking lot. Maggie pointed to a Starbucks across the street. "I'll go and get us some coffee while you make your calls, if you like?"

Ronda smiled. "Great idea. I'll meet you back at the car."

Taking out her phone as they parted ways, Ronda dialed Seth's number. He answered after only a few rings.

"Hey, babe. Tell me it was good news?"

"Hi, honey. It was pretty much the news we expected. My neck is in a pretty bad state. The doc said he wouldn't be willing to risk operating on it as there were too many risks involved because it would be my second major surgery. I explained to him that I had accepted the likelihood of retiring and all I really wanted was one more match."

"What did he say to that?" Seth asked. It was clear in his voice that he had fingers and toes crossed for the right answer, knowing how much it meant to her.

"He said he would recommend that I be cleared for one more match, but only one. He said my neck isn't bad enough to be at the point where he had to insist on immediate retirement. I told him I was fine with one more match, as it was all I wanted. I have to speak to Hunter about it, but I don't think that will be a problem." She heard Seth's sigh of relief as she walked up to her hire car.

"I'm really happy to hear that. I know what it meant to you, and I can totally see why you want to say goodbye to the fans with one more match. I don't doubt that Hunter will give you the match you're hoping for. It'll be great, and it'll be a very fitting way to go out. It will be a very emotional moment for us all."

Now sitting in the car, Ronda leaned back in the drivers seat and sighed. "I know. It still feels weird to hear it put like that, but you're right. I think Maggie's even more upset about it all than I am, honestly."

"Bless her. That doesn't surprise me at all. Did you tell her about the other thing we talked about?"

Ronda smiled. "No. I told her I had something in mind for after my retirement, but I said I couldn't say more until we've looked at it in more detail to see if it's actually possible."

"Have you thought about talking to Hunter about it?"

"I've thought about it," Ronda said, sounding unsure. "I don't know if I should, not yet at least. Maybe after my last match is done, then I'll mention it to him."

Seth chuckled. "I wonder how Steph will take the news. I know you guys get on a lot better now, but I don't know that she's going to be thrilled to hear that you want to invest in WWE and ask them for an executive position."

"Well," Ronda shrugged. "I've saved a lot of the money I've earned over the past few years. I might as well do something with it. And like I said when we talked about it before, I want to try my hand at the business side of things, like Hunter did. Working with the Rousey Foundation has given me a taste for it, and I like it. Plus, I don't want to walk away from the wrestling business. I'm hoping they will give me an on-screen role as well, even though I obviously can't wrestle."

"I'll support you all the way, you know that," Seth said. "Investing is a wise move for us, better than what a lot of people who find themselves with money end up doing with it. So many just piss it away on crap they don't need. I'm sure Hunter and Steph will be pleased about the investment aspect of it, too. Giving you an executive position is a different thing. You don't have any experience with that kind of thing, so I really don't know if Hunter will go for that. Time will tell, I guess."

"If Hunter could do it, I can do it," Ronda said, with determination.

"You're not screwing Stephanie," Seth pointed out, laughing.

"How do you know?" Ronda asked coyly.

"Hey now! First Daga, now Steph? I really need to get my hands on some video of this."

"Shut up, asshole," Ronda chuckled. They moved on to talking about Seth's plans for the day for a couple of minutes, then Ronda made her excuses to end the call, saying that she needed to call Hunter and pass on what the doctor had said.

Maggie arrived and got into the car with two cups of coffee just as Ronda was waiting for Hunter to answer his cell phone.

"Ronda, hi. How did it go?" It sounded like the boss was on speaker phone in his car, judging by the background noise.

"Hey, Hunter. Not too bad. At least, it was what I expected to hear. My neck isn't in great shape, and the doc said he wouldn't operate on it because of the risks involved after my previous surgery. Again, I expected that. All I really wanted was to be able to have one more match, so that I can say goodbye, you know?"

"I'm sorry it wasn't better news." He sounded like he was speaking with a heavy heart, but trying not to show it. "What did he say about the idea of one more match?"

"He said he would make a recommendation that I be cleared for one more match, but the decision would ultimately be made by WWE. That's why I'm calling, to ask you to please give me one more match."

Hunter didn't consider it for long. "We'll look over the reports, but I don't see there being a problem with giving you the match, if that's the recommendation. It would be good if we could do it at Summerslam. Do you think you'd be able to do that? What I mean is, have you been having any more pain in your neck?"

"No. It had worn off within twenty four hours or so, and it's felt okay since. I'm definitely up for appearing at Summerslam. What I'd like to do, if I can pitch you an idea, is come to Smackdown next week and tell everyone what the deal is, that I have to retire because of my neck, and I only have one match left in me."

"I'll stop you there, Ronda," Hunter said. "I've just had an idea. Tell me what you think of it. You come to Smackdown, like you just said, and you say that in your final match, you're going for the Women's title at Summerslam. You say that you have no intention of retiring without holding the Women's title. Then we have you and Daga go at it one last time."

Ronda nodded her appreciation, although he obviously could not see it. "Yes, I'd like that. It's close to what I was going to pitch to you. Hunter, I want to put Daga over. She's put me over twice now. It's only right that I return the favour, and I should probably go out on a loss anyway, right?"

She heard a hearty chuckle on the other end of the phone. "Sorry, I thought I was talking to Ronda Rousey. Who is this?"

"Very funny, Hunter," Ronda said dryly. "I'm serious. I want to do this for Daga. She's the future, we all know that. She's such a fucking awesome heel, and if she beats me in my last match, the sky really is the limit for her. That's how it should be, in my opinion. What do they call it? Passing the torch?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, now sounding more serious. "You've come a long way, Ronda, you know that?"

Ronda was genuinely touched by Hunter acknowledging how much effort she had put in to dealing with her mental health issues and improving her attitude to work and to her colleagues. "Thank you. I've tried, as you know. So can we do what we've just talked about, for Summerslam?"

"Subject to us looking over the reports and confirming that the recommendation from the doctor matches what you've told me, yes. I'll let you tell Daga yourself Tuesday night. I think it will mean more to her if it comes from you."

"Thank you, Hunter." Ronda unexpectedly felt herself welling up. "Not just for this, but for everything. You've always stood by me, even when many would have cut their losses and let me go. All of this happened because of you, and there's no way I can ever thank you enough for that."

"You're welcome," Hunter said, then quickly added, "I've got to go, okay? I'll see you Tuesday."

After he hung up, she was left with the distinct impression that he had gotten off the phone because he was feeling emotional himself, and he had not wanted her to hear it in his voice.

"That sounded like it went well?" Maggie asked from the passenger seat, a hopeful smile on her face.

Ronda returned the smile, then took a first sip from her coffee cup. "Yep. Looks like I'm retiring at Summerslam."

"I'd better talk to Seth about getting something setup for your farewell on the Smackdown after, then. You know they'll give you one."

"Don't even think about it," Ronda warned her. "I've seen those things before. I don't want to end up crying on TV."

"Try and stop us, Ronnie."

"I mean it," Ronda said firmly. "Don't you dare."

"Okay, okay. You win," Maggie said innocently.

Ronda eyed her suspiciously as she started the car. "I guess I'd better start thinking about what to say on Smackdown next week. Shit, that's going to be tough. The fans aren't going to see this coming."


	11. Chapter 11

"Ah, Ronda, come in," Elena smiled after opening her locker room door to her friend. "I tried to call you a couple of times over the weekend to see how the scans went."

Ronda walked into the room and saw that Bayley was sitting in the corner of the room, typing away on her phone. She looked up and smiled. "Hey, Ronda. How are you?"

"Hi, Bay. I saw your calls, Daga. Sorry I didn't get back to you, I was really busy," Ronda lied. The truth was that she had wanted this conversation to happen face to face.

Elena gestured for Ronda to take a seat on one of the cushioned steel chairs, then picked one up for herself and set it down near to Ronda's. "So what did the doctor say?" she asked as Bayley put her phone away, wanting to pay attention to their visitor.

"The news wasn't good," Ronda revealed pragmatically. "But that's what I expected before I went in there. When you've had a neck injury as bad as the one I had years ago, there's only so long you're going to be able to do something like wrestling."

"Surgery wasn't an option?" Bayley asked.

Ronda shook her head. "Not for me. It would be way too risky for me to have a second major surgery. The doctor said he wouldn't have entertained the idea. To be honest, though, I wouldn't have wanted the surgery even if I could have had it. I've been there before. I've had all the pain, I've done all the rehab, and here I am now with my neck in a bad way again. No, it was time to accept the situation. My neck is done, as far as wrestling is concerned."

Elena seemed stunned by the news. "You're saying that's it? You have to retire?"

"Not exactly," Ronda replied, drawing out the second work and adding a smile. "I have one more match left in me, at Summerslam." She saw Bayley start to grin in the background. She was a sharp girl, and had obviously figured out where this was going.

"One more?" Elena asked. "Who with?"

"You, Daga. I asked Hunter if I could have my last match with you, and he said yes."

"You chose me?" Elena asked, clearly touched by the fact.

"I didn't hesitate to pick you. I had my latest match against you. I had my greatest match against you. You put me over in both of them. This time, I get to do it for you."

"No," Elena said firmly. "I don't want you to put me over. This is your last match. You've been a good friend to me, and you've done so much for women's wrestling. You deserve to go out with your hand raised, holding a title belt. Let me drop the belt to you, please?"

Ronda shook her head. "No. Listen to me, Daga. I'm done, okay? Ronda Rousey doesn't need putting over anymore. People like you and Bay are the future of women's wrestling. You're the best heel I've ever seen. It's time for me to pass the torch to someone, and that someone is you. I consider it a great thing that there is someone as good as you ready to take it on."

"That's really nice of you to say," Bayley said as Elena tried to be discreet about the fact that she needed to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Come here, Ronda," Elena said, standing up. Ronda got to her feet and the two women hugged each other. It was a tender moment that neither of them would forget. As far as they were concerned, the torch had already just been passed. "Thank you so much. I love you. I'm going to do something to thank you for this. I don't know what, yet, but I'll think of something."

"You don't have to do anything, Daga," Ronda said softly. "This is me thanking you for our other two matches."

Elena chose not to argue the point, but Ronda coulde sense that she had no intention of changing her mind. "I have an idea for a spot we could do," the Italian said, moving the conversation on as they pulled apart and sat back down.

"Oh?"

"Did you know that no one has ever kicked out of my finisher?"

"I didn't know that," Ronda admitted. "It's surprising, with the way they like matches go finisher after finisher for about six years before someone loses."

"Is true," Elena laughed. That was one of the things she often said incorrectly, Ronda had noticed. "I managed to get Hunter to make sure my finisher isn't used often, but when it is, it beats people."

"You know, I don't think I've ever taken one," Ronda said thoughtfully. She was sure she would have remembered taking the sitout suplex slam that Elena used. It often connected with a very impressive impact.

"You have once, but it was after a promo, not in a match."

"Ah, okay." Or maybe she would not remember, she thought with a smile.

"What I'm saying is, I want you to kick out of my finisher. We make a big deal of it, yes? I will, how do you say... make the point in a promo that no one has kicked out of it, and all I need to do is hit it to finish Ronda for good."

"I like that, Daga. I like that a lot. If we pull it off well, the fans will go crazy for that, thinking I'm going to win. We should probably go from that into me hitting the clothesline on you. They'll think that's beaten you for sure, but you'll also kick out. Usually I don't like finisher spam, but in this case I think it will work."

They spent a few minutes talking over some more ideas for the match, including how it would end, taking Ronda's career with it.

"What are they having you do tonight?" Bayley asked. "I know they mentioned a potential neck injury on the show last week, and I saw the picture you put on Instagram the other day of your crossed fingers, where you put a caption about hoping for good news from the doctor."

Ronda took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I'm not looking forward to it, but I have to go out there and tell everyone what the deal is. The good news I was hoping for was the chance to have one more match. That's not what they will have read into it though. They'll be hoping it means taking some time out, or having a minor surgery or something. To tell them it's over, nearly over," she corrected herself, "That's not going to be easy to do at all. I just hope I can get through it without crying."

"I don't see you crying, Ronda," Elena said confidently.

"Then you'd be surprised. I cry quite often. I'm an emotional person. I just don't let people see it, other than Seth of course."

Elena gave her friend a sympathetic smile. "Then you will probably cry. I will too. At least I'll be sitting back here."

Feeling not that far away from tears already, Ronda decided to stand up and leave. "I'm going to take off, guys. I'll chat to you later."

Elena and Bayley said their goodbyes and the Italian walked Ronda to the door.

Once she was out in the hallway, Ronda took a deep breath to compose herself. It was beginning to dawn on her just how hard it was going to be when she was out in the ring later in the night. The first time she saw a fan crying, she would be off herself. Other people crying always triggered her to do the same.

She set off along the hallway, heading back to her locker room, where Seth would be waiting with a hug and some words of comfort, as he always was. Before she got that far, she encountered Hunter walking the other way, talking to a couple of the backstage production crew. When he saw her coming, he excused himself from them and they continued on without him.

"Hello, Ronda," he said as she walked up to him. There was a hint of sadness in his voice that did her own emotions no favours at all.

"Hunter. How are you?"

"Good, you? All set for later? I'm going to have you close the show with your announcement."

"I'm just trying to hang in there, you know? I'm afraid I'll cry in the ring."

Hunter gave her a thin smile. "You probably will. Retirement is always a sad thing, especially through injury. I'm sorry it didn't work out differently."

"Thank you," Ronda managed to say as she began to choke up.

Seeing that she needed a hug, Hunter embraced her as she wiped at her eyes, almost in time to stop the first couple of tears escaping.

"Have you spoken to Daga yet?" the boss asked her, obviously wanting to change the direction of the conversation a little.

"That's where I've just been. She was very touched by the idea I had for my last match. Thank you again for letting us do it. It's not going to be the best match ever by a long way, but it means the world to me, to Daga, and it will to the fans as well."

"I know, and you're welcome," Hunter said as they separated. "I've been thinking this week about what the future holds, Ronda. Your retirement doesn't have to mean the end."

Ronda realised that he was trying to float the possibility of offering her some other on-screen role, seeing if she would bite. Little did he know, she had her own ideas. Suddenly it felt bad to hold back on revealing the possibility of her investing in WWE from him, after everything he'd done for her. He deserved her openness and honesty. She had agreed with Seth that it was best to wait until her last match was over before bringing it up, but now she decided to go for it. Hunter had given her the perfect setup with what he had said.

"You're right, it doesn't have to be the end. I've been thinking that, too. I was hoping you would feel the same way, because Seth and I talked it over at length and I decided that I want to invest in WWE."

"Sorry, what?" Hunter asked, taken by surprise.

"I've saved quite a lot of money over the past few years," Ronda explained. "I haven't pissed it away and wasted it like some people do. I've saved it until the time was right to do something with it, and now I've decided that buying into WWE is what I want to do."

"That's a big decision, Ronda. But if you're serious about it, I can see Ronda Rousey investing in WWE being a good thing for both parties."

"I am serious about it. You can trust me on that." She decided to go all-in now that she was on a roll. "I didn't plan to tell you this now, in a hallway. I thought we'd discuss it in your office at some point, but since we are talking it now, I would also like you to consider me for an executive position."

Hunter eyed her suspiciously. "You want to be an executive for WWE? No offense, Ronda, but you're not a businesswoman."

"You weren't a businessman," she pointed out, without any confrontation in her voice. It was a statement, and they both knew she was right.

"That's true, but WWE had become my family business. I was invested in it personally and financially, and most importantly, I had the genuine desire to succeed on the business side of things. This isn't something you can decide to do because you're thinking you might be at a loose end for a few weeks after you retire. If, and I'm only saying if for the purposes of this conversation, I gave you an executive position, you would need to be one hundred per-cent committed to it. I don't mean for weeks, either, or months, I mean years. And you would need to fully realise that in that setting, it wouldn't be about Ronda Rousey, it would be about the success of whatever responsibilities you might have. I'm not trying to talk you down for your mental health issues here, because I know what you've battled against and how well you've done it, but there is no place for an out of control ego among my executives. There's no place for histrionics and throwing a fit if a decision doesn't go your way. You would have to give me a guarantee that I'm able to believe in that you could actually do the job, with all of those things taken into account."

Ronda was smart enough to know that he didn't mean she should blurt out some half-assed promise then and there. He meant that she should take some time to think over what he'd said, and he was right. This decision couldn't be rushed in to. She wanted to make one thing abundantly clear to him, however.

"I'll take everything you've said into consideration," she told him earnestly. "I know you're right in what you're saying, and I promise I wouldn't get into this if I couldn't give you the guarantees you need, and mean every word of it. One thing I'm not, and have never been, is a liar. I'll take some time, talk it over with Seth, then I'll speak to you again. I am serious about this, Hunter," she assured him to finish.

"I can see that," he replied thoughtfully. "The passion in your voice tells me that as much as the words you're using. I'll tell you what we'll do. I'll talk this over with Stephanie and some of the other executives, while you talk it over with Seth and do some serious thinking of your own. This is a very emotional time for you, so it's not the time to be making huge decisions about the future. We'll revisit it in a month or two, after all of the stress over your retirement is out of the way, okay?"

"That's fair," Ronda agreed with a smile. "Thanks for not just dismissing me."

"I wouldn't do that. I'm not saying we'll have a position for you, but the idea is worth discussion at least. Frankly, I'm not sure what we could give you. You have no real experience in business."

"That's not strictly true," Ronda objected. "I did almost all of the branding work for The Rousey Foundation. Seth and I also opened and run a restaurant. I did the branding for that as well. You're right that I don't have experience in a lot of corporate settings, but I do know about branding."

Hunter nodded his acknowledgement of the point. "Fair enough. We'll have a detailed look over your branding for the foundation and for your restaurant and see what we think of it. There's certainly a lot for us to think about, and for you as well. Right now, I need to get on. I'll catch up with you before you go out to the ring later."

"Alright. Thanks, Hunter." Ronda started to walk away, but Hunter's voice made her turn back to face him.

"Oh, I forgot to say that I got some good news yesterday. It looks like we're going to get Emma back in a few months."

The news came as a surprise to Ronda. The Australian had sustained a serious back injury a number of months earlier. At first it had been thought that the injury was not terribly serious, but when she had undergone surgery it had been found to be a lot worse than the initial tests had suggested. The first doctor Emma had seen had told her that her career was over, Ronda knew that much.

"Did she get a second opinion?" she asked the boss.

"Yeah, and the verdict was that the first guy was being way too cautious. She needs another minor surgery, then she should be good to go after rehabbing."

"That's really good news," Ronda said genuinely. "I'll have to send her a message."

"I think she'd like that. See you later."

The boss turned and walked away. Only then did Ronda process the little smile that had been on his face as he did so. Clever, she thought, with a little shake of her head. Hunter had just tested her for her reaction. Maybe he had expected her to make some complaint about this being her night, saying that she was retiring through injury, so why should she be happy for someone else if they were able to return. In the past, that might have been exactly what she would have done. Not now, though. She had moved on from that point in her life. Would that count in her favour when she was considered for an executive position? She certainly hoped so.

"Worry about that later," she told herself. There were more immediate concerns to focus on. Specifically, telling the fans that she was almost done. The thought of breaking that news was worth another deep breath. "This is going to be tough."


	12. Chapter 12

When Ronda arrived at the Gorilla Position, ready to go out and deliver her announcement to close Smackdown, she saw Stephanie walk back through the curtain. As Smackdown's current on-screen General Manager, Stephanie had been out there to end a match segment between AJ Styles and Randy Orton by booking a rematch for Summerslam. It was the first time the two women had seen each other that night.

"Hey, Ronda," Stephanie said, a slight air of sadness in her voice as she approached. "I'm sorry the news wasn't better. It's going to be a real shame to lose you."

"I'm trying my best to be positive about it," Ronda said as they shared a brief, awkward hug. "It's not really working at the moment, but at least I get to have one more match. And I think Hunter was about to pitch me the idea of staying on in another role earlier."

"He was, until you told him you plan to invest, and you'd also like an executive position. That came as something of a surprise to both of us."

Despite the sadness of the moment at hand, Ronda was able to smile at that. "I'm sure it did. I am serious about it, though, Steph. I talked it over with Seth, and he thinks I could do a good job. I have gotten a lot better with my, uh, attitude problems. I'm keen to take on a new challenge after my retirement, and I'd love to do it with WWE. I think it could be good for everyone involved."

"We'll need to have some discussions on it," Stephanie said, non-committal. "Your investment would be very welcome though, of course. Where is Seth, anyway? I'd have thought he would be here with you, knowing what you're about to go and do."

AJ walked through the curtain, soon followed by Randy. Neither of them chose to intrude on the conversation, but AJ smiled at Ronda and Randy gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder on his way past.

"I asked him not to. I find it easier not to cry if I don't see other people feeling sad."

Stephanie raised her eyebrows and grimaced. "Well, there's going to be a lot of them out there pretty soon."

"I know," Ronda muttered.

"Well, good luck. They'll be ready for you any minute."

"Thanks, Steph."

With a king-hearted smile, the boss walked away, leaving Ronda standing there alone. She could hear some of the fans already chanting her name. They knew who was up next, but did they know what they were about to be told? There had been speculation of all kinds flying around the internet throughout the week after her Instagram post, ranging from the whole thing being a work, to Ronda having to retire with immediate effect.

The call to get ready for her entrance came, taking her a little by surprise. She'd been drifting into trying to see this from a fan's perspective. Her entrance music hit, drawing a tremendous ovation. Even by her standards, it was notably loud. Taking a deep breath for composure, she walked through the curtain and onto the stage.

Looking out at a sea of people who were all going crazy for her, she found herself thinking that this would only happen once more when she was coming out to actually wrestle. It was a lot to comprehend. Seeing her dressed in a leather jacket and jeans rather than her ring gear gave the fans their first indication that the news might not be good.

Walking down the ramp, she made sure to touch as many of the fan's outstretched hands as she could. These people were all supporting her, so it was the least she could do. It also gave her something to do rather than read some of the signs in the crowd. She knew there would be some asking her not to retire, and they would quickly upset her.

Getting to the ring was something of a relief. Now, though, it was time for the really tough job to begin. How to actually tell these people that it was soon going to be all over for her? She had tried several times to come up with something ahead of time, but it hadn't worked. After she took a microphone from the ring announcer, her music faded out, not that it had been audible anyway by that point. Everyone in the arena seemed to standing on their feet, chanting her name, as if that act alone might be able to keep her career going. If only, she thought.

"You might have to be patient with me here," she began, and everyone quickly quietened down so they could listen. "I might end up rambling a bit. I tried to figure out what I was going to say before I came out here, but it didn't really work out like that." She took a moment to think of a way to begin. "Now, as some of you may know, a long time before I started wrestling, I had an accident and hurt my neck quite badly. WWE put me through extensive tests before they agreed to sign me, even as a referee. Then I ended up becoming a wrestler, and my life changed forever. It changed thanks to Hunter, who had the faith in me that I could be a game changer for women's wrestling."

She had to pause while the fans applauded. "And my life also changed at that time because I got into a relationship with my husband, my rock, Seth Rollins."

A cheer was added to the applause this time. Ronda found herself trying to clear a lump from her throat before she could move on. "I always knew, though, that because of my past neck injury, I wouldn't be able to go on wrestling forever. Fast forward a bunch of years, and we come to the match I had a couple of weeks ago with Elena D'Agostino at Battleground. I took a superplex off the top rope and I knew something was wrong as soon as I hit the mat. I was in a lot of pain from my neck and I had pins and needles in my hand. The pain faded away over the course of a few hours, but I could tell that something was wrong, so I was sent to see a doctor to get some scans."

She noticed that even though she was rambling more than she had intended, she could have heard a pin drop in the arena. Closing her eyes for a second, she went on. "What those scans revealed, is that I have to, uh, I have to retire."

The sound of thousands of people taking in a shocked breath, or groaning in disappointment at the same time was like nothing she had ever heard before. As she tried to carry on speaking, tears filled her eyes and applause broke out. It was a good job, because her voice broke after only a few words anyway. "I always knew I was on borrowed time," was a far as she got.

Seeing the difficulty she was having, some of the fans started chanting, "Thank you, Ronda!" It quickly caught on, and in seconds it seemed as though everyone was chanting it.

"No, thank you," she managed to say, feeling the love like she never had before. Then she felt tears flowing down her cheeks. Looking down at the canvas, she took a moment to try and get herself under control before she lost it completely and started balling like a baby. That definitely wouldn't look like the Ronda Rousey everyone expected to see. Looking up at the crowd was definitely out of the question. One sight of someone else crying and she would have been lost. How she managed to get herself together, she would never know.

Clenching her fists together in determination and clearing her throat, she forced herself to go on. "I always knew I was on borrowed time, thanks to my neck injury. I felt like I knew what I was going to be told when I went to see the doctor. All I really wanted, if I was going to be told I had to retire, was to be allowed to have one more match." She had actually managed a smile as she delivered the last sentence.

Just like that, the atmosphere in the arena changed completely. Although the vast majority of the fans were devastated to lose her, they at least had the chance to support her one last time, and it appeared that they had telepathically all decided to set their sadness aside and get behind her instead. "One more match!" was soon echoing around the place, so loudly that it made Ronda laugh.

"One more match," she promised them. "And there's only one person I want to face in my last match." She left a suitable pause. "Elena D'Agostino, we have unfinished business."

A mixture of cheers and boos rained down as the crowd were caught between cheering the idea of the match or booing the name of the heel character they hated so much.

"As she's always so keen to tell us, Elena is the first, and so far only, WWE Women's Champion. Elena, if you think Ronda Rousey has any intention of retiring without becoming Women's Champion, you've got another thing coming. I spoke to Stephanie McMahon earlier today, and she made it official. At Summerslam, it will be Elena D'Agostino against Ronda Rousey, one on one, and the Women's Championship will be on the line."

The fans roared their support again, but Ronda was now caught in the moment and shouted over the top of them to end her speech. "Team Rousey, we're going out, but we're going out on top!"

An even louder roar reverberated around the arena as Ronda threw the microphone to the timekeeper. Her music hit, and she rolled out under the bottom rope. Not hanging around, she made her way up to the stage and turned to acknowledge the crowd with a little bow. The sheer energy they put into chanting her name back at her brought tears to her eyes once more.

Turning, she hurriedly made her way through the curtain, and into Seth's waiting arms. It had not been a long segment, but it sure had been an emotional one.

"Well done, babe," he told her, hugging her tightly. "You did so well out there. I knew you could get through it."

"They're so good to me," Ronda mumbled into his shoulder. "I wish I had fully appreciated it earlier."

"Don't dwell on that," Seth said gently. "All that matters is they're all going to be behind you at Summerslam. It's going to be a truly extraordinary atmosphere. And there's something else you've not been told yet. I made a little request of Hunter, and he gladly agreed."

The boss was standing nearby, just far enough away to give them some privacy. Ronda pulled herself away from Seth and looked at him. "What request did you agree to, Hunter?"

He walked over and gave her a hug of his own. "To be honest, I'd already had the idea myself anyway. I just wanted Seth to feel good about himself."

All three of them laughed. "But what are you talking about?" Ronda asked.

"I'm talking about the fact that you and Daga are going to going to main event Summerslam."

It took a moment for that to sink in for Ronda. She was going to end her career by competing in the main event of WWE's second biggest pay-per-view. It was a truly amazing thing, both for her personally and for women's wrestling. "Thank you, Hunter," she managed to say, feeling lost for words. "I don't know what else to say. It means so much to me, and I know it will to Daga as well. Does she know?"

"Yep," Hunter smiled. "I just came from her locker room. She can't wait."

"Neither can I," Ronda assured him. "If I could have picked a way to end my career, I don't think I could have chosen anything better than this. I'm going to train like you wouldn't believe these next few weeks and give that match everything I have left."

Hunter nodded. "I'll also give you some time on the following Smackdown to say a few words in the ring. I know the fans would like that."

"Thank you," Ronda said, conscious of how many times she had said it to him recently. "I don't want a big deal made of it. I'd just like to go out there and say a few words of thanks."

"Whatever you want," the boss said kindly.

Ronda wasn't sure if she imagined the little glint in his eyes as he said it. No, she thought, she had been perfectly clear to Seth and to Maggie that she didn't want any fuss making of her sendoff. "Is it weird that I can't wait for Summerslam now?" she asked both men.

"No," Seth replied. "It's going to be a great night. Look forward to it, and when it comes, enjoy it."

"He's right," Hunter said. "And remember what I said earlier: Your retirement doesn't have to mean the end. I'll see you next week."

That was the second time he had said that exact sentence. Before Ronda could question him on that or ask what he had in mind for her after Summerslam, he turned and walked away.


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone in the arena was on their feet when the promo package for Summerslam's main event came to an end. The air was alive with anticipation as people looked forward to seeing Ronda Rousey and Elena D'Agostino go at it one last time. But would they see their favourite emerge victorious?

Elena's original hard rock entrance theme hit, drawing a venomous reaction from the crowd. Already universally hated, the vitriol was turned up to eleven for this particular match as everyone got behind Ronda, possibly more than ever.

"Oh my, listen to this reaction," Maura Ranallo said on commentary as the champion walked out onto the stage, looking fired up and determined. "Elena's in enemy territory tonight, that's for sure."

"Elena's always in enemy territory," JBL replied. "Do you actually think she cares? These people can boo all they want. They can chant Ronda Rousey all they want. None of it will make a damn bit of difference. Elena's the WWE Women's Champion now, and she will be when we go off the air tonight, you mark my words."

"I wonder if Elena is as confident as you are, John?" Otunga said. "We all know that Ronda's not going to be one hundred per-cent physically, but she has that will to win that's impossible to understate. She has also already beaten Elena twice, including last month at Battleground in the unsanctioned match, where the title wasn't on the line."

"Ronda scraped by Elena last time," JBL countered. "And even then, Elena basically retired her. If I was a fan of Ronda, I'd be less worried about whether she wins, and more worried about whether she walks out under her own power. You heard what Elena said last week on Smackdown: She's going to go after Ronda's neck, actively looking to cripple her."

"That was a vile thing for Elena to say," Ranallo said. "And John, you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting it."

Elena was now in the ring. She exchanged some very heated words with a particularly passionate female fan in her late teens in the front row, who was wearing a Team Rousey hoodie. As her music faded out, Ronda's name started echoing around the arena while the fans waited for her music to hit.

"Ronda's making Elena wait," Ranallo said. "I don't care what you say, JBL, there has to be some nerves in the mind of the champion as she thinks about what's about to transpire."

Ronda's music hit, to an emotional roar of approval.

"Listen to this ovation!" Otunga cried out as Ronda walked out onto the stage. For the first time ever, she was wearing all white ring gear, something special for a special occasion. "Neck injury or not, Ronda looks like she's possibly in the best shape of her life to me."

"She certainly looks ready," Ranallo agreed. "It has to be an emotional moment for Ronda, but look at her eyes. She hasn't looked away from Elena once. She's focused on the task at hand, which is to retire as the WWE Women's Champion."

Ronda's march to the ring didn't take long at all. She was soon standing in her corner, limbering up as she glared across the ring at her opponent, who, to her credit, glared right back as she handed her title belt over to the referee. There was a very notable feeling of intensity in the arena. Ring announcer Greg Hamilton was in the ring, ready to begin the announcements.

"This contest, set for one fall, is for the WWE Women's Championship!"

The referee held the belt aloft, showing it to the cameras and to the fans.

"Introducing first, the challenger, from Venice, California, Ronda Rousey!"

Another roar of encouragement came from the crowd, not that Ronda seemed to notice as she continued limbering up.

"And her opponent, she is the WWE Women's Champion, from Milan, Italy, Elena!"

The deafening boos seemed to amuse the Italian, who turned and sneered at the fans for a moment, before indicating to Ronda with a hand gesture that she was going to break her neck like a twig.

After beckoning the two women out of their corners, the referee called for the bell, which in itself got a cheer.

Unlike the last time they had fought, Ronda did not rush her opponent. Both women walked into the centre of the ring, and the noise level in the arena rose. Everyone just wanted the action to commence.

"Look at the camera flashes," Ranallo said in awe. "I don't know if I've ever seen anything like this in my time in WWE."

"We're yet to see women headline Wrestlemania," Otunga said. "But we are going to see them headline Summerslam. I have goosebumps. We're seeing Ronda Rousey in a WWE ring for the last time. Savour the moment."

"And we're underway!" JBL called out a moment later, as the two women locked up in the middle of the ring.

To reduce the amount of bumps Ronda had to take, she dominated a large portions of the first ten minutes of the match, much to the fan's delight. Every move or punch that had connected was greeted with the kind of cheering that some superstars could only dream of getting for an entrance, let alone a move. The fans were doing everything they could to encourage Ronda's potential victory.

However, Elena got the upper hand by pulling Ronda down face first into one of the turnbuckles, seemingly causing great pain in her neck. Whilst being incessantly booed, the Italian went on to deliver several signature moves without reply.

"Ronda looks like she's in big trouble here," Ranallo said with concern as the challenger struggled to even rise to a knee, clutching at her neck with one hand. Showing utter contempt for her opponent, Elena slapped her hard in the face, delivering a mouthful of abuse to go with it.

"Come on now, that's just disrespectful," Otunga protested as Elena sauntered around the ring, rubbing her dominance in the faces of the crowd.

"Look at the champ! Here we go!"JBL cried out passionately, ignoring his colleague. Elena had taken up a very deliberate poised stance behind Ronda, ready to strike as soon as she made it to her feet.

The moment Ronda had been waiting for was at hand. This was Daga's thank you gift to her for the huge win she was going to get. No one had ever kicked out of her sitout suplex finisher before, but that was about to change. When they had discussed it in advance, they'd both agreed that the fans would go crazy when Ronda managed to do so. She intended to savour every second of the reaction.

Hauling herself to her feet, she sold the fact that she was experiencing a severe amount of neck pain. Thankfully, the reality was that the pain was only minor, so far at least. Staggering, she turned around to face her opponent, who kicked her in the stomach and delivered her finishing move so quickly that it seemed to almost surprise the fans. There was a collective intake of breath, followed by boos that sounded almost desperate in nature. They actually thought it was over, Ronda realised as she was rolled over onto her back.

Elena made a cover. The referee was right there to quickly make the count, adding further credence to the fact that Ronda and the match were done.

One.

Two.

Ronda powered out, launching Elena across the ring, before it was even close to three. The eruption from the fans was like nothing she had experienced before, or so it felt. She knew this was a moment that would be remembered for a long time by those who were there to see it live. They roared her on as she got back up once more.

Elena had pulled herself up in the corner, staring at Ronda with wide eyes, as if she was a ghost.

Both women walked towards each other and threw a punch. Ronda's was much more effective, sending the champion staggering backwards. Feeling goosebumps on her arms thanks to the fan's support, Ronda delivered several more punches, until Elena was out of it, standing in the corner, but out on her feet. To setup her finisher, Ronda whipped her across the ring, sending her hard into the opposite corner. As that happened, she had ran and hit the ropes herself, so that by the time Elena stumbled out of the corner, she was coming at her like a freight train. It was going to be the last Clothesline from Hell she would ever hit, so she made sure to put everything into it.

"She got it!" Otunga yelled as Elena was flattened by the move.

"Rousey into the cover!" Ranallo joined in. Along with him, everyone in the arena made the count.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Th.." Elena's shoulder came up as late as it possibly could do, leaving the fans howling in disappointment and shock. A group of guys in the front row theatrically slumped themselves over the barricade. Ronda seemed to have put everything she had left in the tank into her flurry, and now looked spent, lying on her back on the mat, breathing heavily.

Ronda saw her friend getting up, and she knew that this was it. These were her final moments as a wrestler. In a way, it was a good thing. Taking Elena's finisher had not done her neck any favours, and she still had two more to take for the eventual conclusion.

Struggling to her feet again, she imagined the two non-heel commentators willing her on, despite the fact that Elena would be poised to strike once more. She turned around, and Elena hit her finisher again. When the move connected, it seemed to give the crowd a real kick in the stomach. They still booed, but there wasn't the same intensity to it. They now knew what the outcome was going to be. Ronda held her neck, and this time the she wasn't faking the pain.

Elena made no cover. Instead, she theatrically nipped up to her feet, seemingly revitalised by the fact that she was so close to victory.

For the last time, Ronda struggled to her feet, only to be immediately set up for the third sitout suplex. Elena held her in the air for a second, then slammed her down to the canvas as hard as she could, much harder than the first two times. The thunderous bang Ronda made on impact was a real exclamation point on the end of the match. Even though the move was delivered so that she landed on her front, she still felt a sharp pain in her neck, and the pins and needles sensation in her right hand returned.

There would be no doubt in anyone's minds about the count this time. Ronda felt herself welling up as her friend rolled her over again and made a cover. Everything suddenly seemed to go in slow motion.

One.

Two.

Three.

A large portion of the fans cheered the momentous occasion. Looking up at the lights through her tears, it sounded to Ronda as if a lot of them were on their feet. Outside of kayfabe, she knew that everyone respected the hell out of Elena for how talented she was; rightly so. They had not just witnessed the end of Ronda Rousey's career as a wrestler, they had witnessed the passing of the torch. As knowledgeable fans, they respected that fact and were cheering both women.

Ronda lay there holding her neck, and it had nothing to do with selling. She was in a lot of pain, but she hoped it would fade over the next few hours as it had after her last match. Calling it a day when she had was definitely the right decision, she knew that without doubt.

Turning her head slightly to look at Elena, she noticed that her friend had not got up to celebrate her win right away. She was just sitting there beside her, with a slightly overwhelmed expression on her face as she tried to get her breath back. To Ronda's surprise, Elena looked back down at her and broke character, shifting her sitting position so she could lean down and say something close to her ear, that only the two of them could hear.

"Thank you, Ronda. Thank you." Her voice was thick with emotion, making her Italian accent even stronger as a result. "I'll never forget tonight. Women can only possibly main event Summerslam because of what you've done to change this industry. This win means more to me than I can ever say. You have a friend for life. I love you."

"I love you too," Ronda choked out past the lump in her throat. With that, Elena got up and went to celebrate her victory. Unlike some people in the business, Elena was all class.

Ronda lay there for a couple of minutes, enjoying the cheers that her friend was getting, among the boos that some people still insisted on sending her way. She turned her head to the other side when Elena left the ring, so that she could see her briefly celebrate will the several members of her family who were at ringside, having flown all the way from Italy to be there. Seeing how emotional they all were was truly heart-warming.

Eventually, Elena's music faded out and Ronda knew the spotlight was back on her. It was time for her to make her own exit. The fans realised it too, and as she slowly began to get up, partially selling, partially not, warm applause rained down on the ring.

Some people got a chant of, "Thank you, Ronda," going just after she rolled out of the ring, while others just carried on their applause. She avoided looking at the crowd as much as she could during her walk to the stage, for fear of seeing someone crying and loosing it herself.

Approaching the stage, she became conscious of the fact that one of the night's defining images was about to be captured. She did not want to have tears in her eyes for it, so she sucked up her emotions as best she could.

Turning back to face the crowd, she made a point of clapping both sides of the arena to thank everyone for their support. With that, Summerslam, and her career, were over.

Turning again, she walked through the curtain. Seth, Elena, Bayley, Hunter and Stephanie were all there, applauding her. A cameraman was also there to capture the moment for the WWE Network. The tears promptly returned.

Seth forced himself to hang back. Much as he wanted to be the first to hug his wife and tell her how proud he was, that right belonged to Elena after such an emotional match. He watched as the two women held each other for well over thirty seconds. Both of them shed tears, but neither said anything. Having seen the end of the match, he understood why. The words had already been said.

When the two women separated, Seth stepped forward and tightly embraced his wife. "I love you, babe," he told her after kissing her sweaty forehead, keeping his voice low. This was not something to say for the benefit of an audience. "I'm so proud of you for tonight, and for everything you've done in this business and elsewhere over the last few years. Most of all, I'm proud of you for overcoming the things you've overcome. No other man could love his wife as much as I love you."

"Thank you, honey," Ronda choked out. "I couldn't have done any of it without you. The wrestling, the movies, the therapy, the charity work, none of it would have happened without you always being there for me. No matter what, you have always supported me. I don't deserve as good a man as you, but I'll definitely take it. I love you."

They kissed again, then Seth enquired about her neck. After assuring him that she would be okay, Ronda moved on to exchange hugs with the two bosses, followed lastly by Bayley. Hunter chose to only say a few words, seeing that she clearly wanted only to be with Seth.

Seth put an arm around Ronda's shoulders, and she allowed him to start leading her towards their locker room. They had to walk past the cameraman, who was focused on her.

"Well, that's it," she said into the camera, with a sigh that she was surprised to realise contained relief along with other emotions. "I'm no longer a wrestler."


	14. Chapter 14

We need to have a chat about the future. That was how Hunter had ended the text message he had sent to Ronda earlier in the day, before she got to the arena for Smackdown. It was for that reason that the first item on her agenda for the night had been to go and see the boss in his office.

"You wanted to see me, Hunter?" she asked politely as she walked in, thankful that he was the only one in the room.

Hunter looked up from the paperwork he had been reading and smiled. "Ronda, how are you? How have you been since Sunday, I mean?" He gestured for her to take a seat on the leather-backed chair in front of his desk.

"Okay," Ronda decided was the right word, after sitting down and giving it some thought for few seconds. "Sunday night was tough. Once we got to the hotel, the adrenaline went away and it started to sink in that it was all over, I couldn't stop crying for a long time. Thank God that Seth was there, or I don't know how I would have gotten through it. Hopefully the worst of that is behind me though, at least after tonight. It's not going to be easy out there."

"I've seen it plenty of times, and I know it's definitely not easy to come to terms with it," Hunter said sympathetically. "You mentioned tonight, though, and that's the first thing I wanted to talk to you about. I've set aside some time at the end of the show for you to go out to the ring and say a few words. I know you'd like that opportunity, and I know the fans will expect something like that to happen."

"Thanks, Hunter," Ronda said genuinely. "I don't want to say all that much, to be honest. I'd just like to thank a few people and say goodbye. I've already told Seth I don't want a fuss making out of it. I'd only end up crying in the ring, and I'm trying to avoid that."

"I understand."

Ronda had tried her best to read the expression on his face as he said it. She was not convinced that Seth was going to go along with her wishes and not make a big deal out of her sendoff. If there was anything planned, the boss's poker face was good enough not to let on.

"With that in mind, though," Hunter went on, "I think we need to talk about where we go from here."

"Meaning?" Ronda asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Meaning do you really intend for this to be your last appearance for WWE? You must have thought about what to do after your in-ring retirement."

"I have thought about it, and I've been trying to figure out what you meant when you said my retirement doesn't have to mean the end. You've said that to me twice, so maybe, stop being cryptic now?"

Hunter took her typical bluntness in his stride. "I meant exactly what I said. Your retirement as a wrestler doesn't have to mean the end of Ronda Rousey in WWE. You're still under contract, after all. I am keen to keep you on as an on-screen talent. Specifically, I want you to take on the role of Smackdown General Manager."

"But that's Steph's job," Ronda blurted out on autopilot.

"Right now it is, yeah. What I'm proposing is to write something that involves her moving to Raw, with you coming in as her replacement on Smackdown. We're talking in a few months time of course, so we can get the whole surprise Ronda return aspect of it."

Ronda considered the offer, not that it required much consideration. She had not wanted to walk away from the wrestling business, and this role would see her working the same show as Seth, which of course meant precious time together. As Hunter had said, she was still under contract, so there was no financial aspect to dwell on. From her point of view, it seemed like a simple offer, and one that was acceptable to her.

"I liked that idea," she announced. "I'd like to go ahead with it. Is it, uh, that simple?"

Hunter chuckled. "I could see if I could find a way to make it harder, if you like?"

"No, simple works for me," Ronda said, managing a grin of her own. "I think this fits in well with the fact that I'm looking to invest, too. When that becomes public knowledge, it won't seem like such a leap for people to see me show up in a management position." She watched Hunter lean back in his chair, catching on straight away to her clever steering of the conversation towards the topic of the executive position she had requested after her investment went through.

"I know what you're getting at there," he said carefully. "We've not had the chance to sit down and discuss it as yet. That's all I can say to you at present. Honestly, I will speak in favour of the idea, but that still might not be enough to get it through. The Chairman can't just make a unilateral decision on something like that."

"I understand that," Ronda replied, figuring that she could not have realistically hoped to hear anything more positive than that at this stage.

They chatted for another few minutes about her proposed role as General Manager and plans for the segment later in the night, before Hunter brought an end to the meeting. As Ronda headed for the door, she heard him click his fingers in frustration. "One more thing, Ronda. I don't know how I managed to forget to mention it."

"What's that?" Ronda asked, stopping near the door and turning back to face him.

"Daga has organised a little something for you, as a thank you. She wanted to be here herself to tell you about it, but she's got the night off. She got a minor injury in her shoulder Sunday night, so I gave her a few days off at home."

"Organised what?" Ronda asked suspiciously. The whole thing about Elena not being there because of some lame injury sounded like a particularly unconvincing line of bullshit. As if her friend would miss her sendoff show for a reason like that. Something was going on.

"She told me she wanted to do something to show her gratitude for you putting her over in that main event, so she's organised a friend of her family to be here tonight to sing a couple of songs for you. It should be, uh, very different for a wrestling show, that's for sure."

Ronda shook her head in confusion. "Hunter, what are you talking about? What friend of her family? And singing, for me?"

"Ever heard of Andrea Bocelli?"

"I think so," Ronda said. "An opera singer? Daga arranged for an opera singer to sing for me, on Smackdown?" She was touched that her friend would make the effort to get someone who she felt sure was a big name in opera to perform for her, but she did not know anything about that type of music herself. It certainly did not seem like the kind of thing wrestling fans would appreciate. Having said that, the big win had meant a lot to her friend, and rejecting her gesture of thanks would be outrageously rude and ungrateful. "That will certainly be something different," she hedged.

"I met him a short time ago," Hunter said. "He's actually a really nice guy, and has good English. He's also blind, so you're going to have to lead him out to the microphone we'll have set up on the stage, and you'll have to stand with him while he performs."

"Uh, okay," Ronda mumbled, wondering what exactly Elena had gotten her into.

Hunter stood up and walked around his desk. "Come on, I'll take you to meet him. Daga's really confident his performance, unconventional though it might be for our audience, will prove to be a memorable moment."

Ronda was not sure about that, but she decided to give it a chance, thinking that she would be happy to be proven wrong.

* * *

Standing behind the curtain, seconds before her farewell segment was due to begin, Ronda still was not sure what to expect in terms of the fan's reaction to hearing two opera songs. Would they be bored by it? Might they even shit all over it? She hoped that her presence on the stage and the fact that the performance was essentially going to be for her would be enough to stop that happening.

When she was given the signal, she lead the way through the curtain, linked arm in arm with Andrea Bocelli. As Hunter had said, the handsome singer was a lovely man. He was one of those rare people who you could just chat to from the first moment you met them, as if you were old friends. He had spoken of his friendship with the D'Agostino family, who were a notable name in Italian business, and had gone on to say that he considered it an honour to come and sing at Ronda's farewell. Although he did not have an interest in wrestling, he had explained that he knew Ronda was one of the most popular stars, and that loosing her to early retirement was a big blow to the fans. Plus there was the fact that Elena had told him about how she was being booked to beat Ronda in her final match. Knowing how important that was to her had been all it had taken to convince him to make the trip to America and perform without even charging WWE a fee for doing so. Even with her reservations about opera being suitable for the occasion, Ronda had felt herself welling up at the incredible gesture made by both Elena and Andrea.

Ronda was to lead him to the podium and remain there while he performed two songs. He had given her the names, but she had forgotten the first one. It had been something in Italian, which had not meant anything to her because she knew nothing about opera and did not speak the language. The second song had an English title: Time to Say Goodbye. Ronda expected hearing that to be where things started to get emotional, both for her and the fans, if they actually got into the performance. To give Andrea every chance at a receptive audience, she had decided to introduce him herself when they got to the microphone.

The fans gave her an emotional cheer along with generous applause, despite her lack of entrance music. Most of them were probably confused as to what the hell was going on, she realised. Some of them began to chant her name as she and Andrea reached the microphone stand which had been erected at the top of the entrance ramp. She made sure Andrea was okay with knowing where he was so they could unlink arms.

"Thank you," she said over the top of the chanting of her name, which was getting louder by the second. "I'd like to introduce Andrea Bocelli. Team Rousey, he's here to perform for us."

She had hoped that would help to get people to pay attention, but most of them just carried on chanting, even as the music to the first song, Nessun Dorma, began to play. Even when Andrea began singing, her name continued to echo around the arena. She held up a hand and gestured for them to quiet down, which she was pleased to see actually worked in fairly short order.

Ronda tried to focus on the words to the song, in the hope that she could appreciate them despite not speaking a word of Italian. She soon realised that the language barrier was not a problem. Opera seemed to her to be as much about the emotions the singer's voice could stir within you, rather than the words they were actually singing. Andrea certainly had her hooked almost from the start. His voice was truly incredible. The song actually seemed reminiscent, too, once he got into it. She decided she must have heard it on TV at some point.

As the song went on, she looked around the arena. A large majority of the fans were now absorbed into the song as well, which really was a testament to how well it was being sung. If you could get opera over with wrestling fans, you really were special.

When Andrea brought the song to an end with the final sustained note, Ronda felt goosebumps breaking out on her arms. She wanted to tell him how great she thought it had been, but she knew he was not done yet. There was the second song to come. The fans, not knowing that, were applauding what they thought was the end of the singing. When more music started to play, they quickly quietened down again, this time without being asked.

Almost immediately, Ronda realised that Time to Say Goodbye was a much different song to the first. This was a much slower, more emotional song, as was appropriate for the title. Thinking about the title and what it meant in her context started to stir emotions within her. When Andrea sang the title in English as part of the song, the only English words in it, she felt herself welling up again. It really was exactly that: Time to say goodbye. It was then that she really appreciated Elena's gift for what it truly was. Although they both knew they would be friends for life, Daga was still saying goodbye to her as a colleague, and an opponent, and this was how she had chosen to do it. It truly was a very special gift.

Looking out at the crowd again, she could see people crying themselves, moved to tears by the powerful song as much as her retirement. As Andrea brought the song to its conclusion, Ronda knew it was a moment she would never forget. Andrea thanked the fans in English, who in turn gave him a standing ovation and enthusiastic applause as Ronda hugged him and said, "Thank you, Andrea. That was truly beautiful. I'll never forget it."

"My pleasure, Ronda," he told her, then Renee Young came through the curtain and onto the stage. It had been arranged ahead of time that she would lead Andrea to the back, so that Ronda could go down to the ring to address the fans.

She made her way down the ramp amid applause and more name chanting. Surprisingly, she felt like she might get through without breaking down. There was more of a celebratory feeling to the atmosphere than anything else, and she was being lifted by it. The chant quickly changed to, "Thank you, Ronda," when she climbed into the ring and walked across to get a microphone. Smiling broadly, she tried her best to acknowledge the support.

"Thank you, guys," she began, when there was half a chance of anyone hearing her. "I expected to come out here tonight and feel like I might burst into tears at any moment, but I actually feel great. It feels like you guys are carrying me right now, so thank you for that." More cheering made her pause for a moment.

"I don't have a lot that I want to say. Elaborate speeches aren't really my thing, as I'm sure most of you know. All I wanted to do was say a few words of thanks. First of all, I want to thank all of you, the fans. Not just those of you in the arena tonight, I mean everyone out there who has ever supported me in any way, be it cheering for me, sending me supportive tweets, donating to the Rousey Foundation, the list goes on. I truly appreciate everything you've done for me, and I know that I live the privileged life I have largely because of all of you. I'm just trying my best to deserve it."

She had not thought through the rather obvious consequence of ending on those particular words. The crowd quickly started chanting, "You deserve it."

"The next people I want to thank are Triple H and Stephanie. I know I've not always been the easiest person to manage, but they've always stood by me. Hunter brought me back to WWE after I was released from my first contract, and that's the main reason I'm standing here today. They've both also been incredibly supportive of the Foundation, which means so much to me, and to the people in need who we've managed to help so far." Generous applause rained down.

"Next, I'd like to thank the most important person in my life, my husband. No husband could treat his wife better than Seth treats me, and no woman could love their man more than I do. I am truly blessed in so many ways to have him in my life. I love you, honey." The uncharacteristic final sentence drew more applause, which turned to a loud cheer when Seth's music hit.

Ronda closed her eyes for a moment. She had suspected that Seth was going to ignore her request not to come out to the ring during her speech and make a big deal of it. Any hopes of getting through without crying had probably just gone out of the window, she thought. When she opened her eyes, she knew it for sure. Seth was not the only person who had walked out onto the stage. Maggie was linked arm in arm with him, and Ronda's mother and sisters were walking just behind them. Given the issues she'd had with her family over the years, albeit that they had made some progress towards reconnecting recently, she certainly had not expected them to come and see her at WWE.

Biting her bottom lip, she waited for them all to get in the ring. Seth held the ropes open for them and offered a hand to help Maggie, who went first. "I told you not to do something like this," Ronda said to her best friend as she walked over. They shared a warm embrace.

"I know you did. We ignored you," Maggie replied, grinning.

Ronda laughed, to her own surprise. "We'll talk about this after the show."

Ronda then exchanged greetings, hugs and kind words with her family members, thanking them all for coming. Then it was Seth's turn. Tears trickled from her eyes as she looked into his and saw the love he felt for her in them. "I told you not to do this," she said into his ear as they hugged each other. "I was doing well till you came out, now I'm crying. I really should kill you," she chuckled.

They pulled apart and Seth took her microphone. Turning to the crowd, he laughed and asked them, "You know what she just said? She's going to kill me for this after we get in the back." Laughter filled the arena, and everyone in the ring joined in. "Before I die though, babe, I have to say that if you really thought people weren't going to come out to wish you well for your retirement, you've got another thing coming."

Almost soon enough to interrupt him, Elena's music hit. Some of the fans booed on instinct, thinking that this might be some kind of in-character interruption, with the heel coming out to shit on the celebrations. Ronda knew differently, and had to close her eyes tightly for a few seconds to keep the tears in as Elena quickly made her way to the ring. As if she would not have been here, Ronda thought, making a mental note to talk to Hunter about lying to her.

The Italian's music faded out when she entered the ring, and the two women stood several feet apart, looking eye to eye. The crowd were unsure as to what was going on, but then a smile broke out on Elena's face and she began to applaud Ronda as she walked forward. Applause quickly followed from the fans, who saw the raw emotion involved in their embrace.

"Thank you for arranging Andrea to come and sing for me, Daga. That was incredible."

"It was the least I could do," Elena replied. "You've done so much for my career over the last couple of months. I can't even tell you what it means to me. I'm going to miss you."

"Who said I was going anywhere?" Ronda asked as they separated, reminded of something that she and Hunter had agreed she would say to the audience before she left the ring.

"You're staying on the show?"

"I hope so," Ronda hedged. "Thanks again for coming out. I love you."

"I love you, too, Ronda." Elena walked over and shared a hug with Seth, who thanked her for coming out.

Then the next piece of entrance music hit. It belonged to Charlotte Flair, current NXT star, Ronda's friend, and daughter of her mentor, the late Ric Flair. The taller woman was greeted warmly by the fans, as most of them knew how close Ronda and Ric had been, and guessed that was the main reason Charlotte was there.

Ronda just about kept her emotions in check long enough to greet her friend when she entered the ring. "Thanks for coming, Charlotte. It really means so much to me."

"I wouldn't have missed it," Charlotte replied as they hugged. "My dad is so proud of you right now, you know that? After everything you've been through in your personal life, to be out here retiring in such a way, putting Daga over like that, it would have meant so much to him if he could have been out here instead of me."

Both women were crying by the end of her comments. They held each other tightly for what seemed like a very long time, sharing their grief, but also trying to give each other strength.

"I can only hope to carry on making him proud. Your dad changed my life, Char. I was in a seriously bad place when he decided to step in and help me. Again, thank you so much for coming out."

"You're welcome." Charlotte smiled, then moved on to speak to Seth.

Sarita Lopez was the next to come out. At one time, she and Ronda had been at odds to say the least, but they had buried the hatchet and then moved on to become friends. Sarita was currently on leave due to pregnancy, and Ronda had not seen her for some time. The two women exchanged a hug and some kind words.

Nikki Bella, who had been Ronda's friend almost since her first day with WWE, was next to come out. Neither of those people showing up surprised Ronda, now that she knew Seth had been making arrangements. There was no way either of them would not have been a part of it.

Ronda smiled again when Roman Reigns' music hit. Most of the crowd even spared him from boos for once. Roman and Ronda had been friends for a long time, and on one occasion had been a lot closer than that, shortly after she had broken up with Seth the first time they had been together. Due to the fact that Roman was married, and also the fact that Ronda had ended up getting back with Seth, that night together had always been kept secret. Thankfully, it had not ruined their friendship, or Roman and Seth's friendship. Thanks to Roman being drafted to Raw, they now did not get to see him very often.

"I'm sorry, Ronda," Roman said as the embraced. "Injuries can be very cruel, but you sure achieved a hell of a lot in this business."

"It's okay, I've made my peace with it," she assured him. "Thanks for coming out, Rome, it really means a lot."

"You couldn't have stopped me," Roman smiled, then gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. He made to walk over to Seth, but stopped and added, "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I made a call of my own and arranged one more person to come."

Ronda was about to question who he was talking about, but she did not get the chance. The Rock's music hit, and the roof nearly come off the arena. Ronda could not help herself laughing as the co-star in her most recent movie made his way down to the ring. Filming that movie had been one of the best experiences of her career, mainly due to getting along so well with Dwayne, whose wife she had been playing on-screen. They had begun the project as acquaintances and ended it as friends.

While the fans cheered and chanted, "Rocky," Ronda embraced him and thanked him for coming.

"Roman said you told Seth you didn't want anyone making a big deal of this, but I weighed it up and decided that as they're considering a sequel to our movie, I didn't want you showing up and kicking my ass."

Both of them laughed at that, then Ronda said, "Seriously, thank you so much for taking the time to come. I really couldn't have imagined you doing this for me."

"My pleasure. I'm just sorry your neck made you stop earlier than you would have wanted. But you've got such a bright future in front of you, even without wrestling. Now, how about we give them a picture to remember tonight by?"

"How do you mean?" Ronda asked, grinning.

"Come here." Dwayne took her by the hand and walked into the centre of the ring, before raising it as a referee would after a winning effort in a match. The fans cheered raucously.

Just like that, Ronda realised that it was over. She had not ended up as a total blubbering mess as she had feared. In fact, it had been a lovely experience to have all these people come out especially for her. There was only one thing left to do. "Can I please have that microphone?" she asked Seth, who handed it over.

"Thank you, everyone," she began, meaning those in the ring. "It means so much to me that you all came out here for me. I just have one more thing to say." Taking a deep breath, she turned to face the crowd. This was the pre-arranged moment she had talked about with Hunter.

"My retirement doesn't mean the end," she told the audience, being as cryptic as Hunter had himself with almost the exact same sentence. It was not even clear if she meant the end for herself, or for women's wrestling. "Your job now is to support the other women in WWE. There are so many great talents here, I know women's wrestling is in good hands. I hope it works out without me." Her voice broke as she delivered the final sentence.

Seeing the difficulty she was having, the fans started applauding again as Seth hugged her. "Come on, honey, let's go to the back," he suggested. Ronda was ready to do exactly that, so she allowed him to take her hand and lead her towards the ropes.

There was still one more surprise to come as she and Seth lead the rest of the entourage up the entrance ramp. The Authority's music hit, and Hunter and Stephanie walked out onto the stage, followed by the rest of the women's roster. They divided equally to form a guard of honour at the top of the entrance ramp, applauding as she made her way between them, thanking them all as she did so. Another chorus of, "Thank you, Ronda," echoed around the arena.

It was the last straw for Ronda as far as her emotions were concerned. She could not bring herself to turn back and look at the fans one last time, because tears were streaming down her face. For the last time, as far as most people knew, she disappeared through the curtain.

END

 


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